The Stranger
by michael1812
Summary: Aeryn Sun awaits her contact for the Assassination Squad in a bar when a stranger enters. When commando's attack the bar and a monster appears, he alone can help her defeat the odds. But every answer leads to more questions. Who is the Doctor?
1. The Bar

Was she really going to do it?

Aeryn pounded the bar with her forehead.

It didn't hurt.

She had done it so many times now the locals weren't surprised she did it again.

She did not feel the pain anymore.

She still hadn't touched her drink and it just stood there, reminding her of thirst, and of old times.

Old pains.

Was she really going to do it?

"Frell!" Aeryn muttered to herself.

This is the third time she asked herself that question, which was absurd, because she had already made that decision.

She had done it.

She had left Moya.

She had left Crichton.

Her glass trembled when she stomped her elbow on the bar and held her head within her hand.

She was tired.

So tired.

The bartender wanted to say something to her, but his fear for the strange looking female outsider made him waver, so he didn't.

He cleaned another glass and put it back on the shelf behind him.

Aeryn slowly turned her head to her right, knowing that she was being watched.

"What the frell are you looking at?" Aeryn said angrily to the bearded humanoid alien sitting next to her and he looked away, spilling drops of his beverage over his trousers.

Aeryn didn't care.

She was now meeting her contact, in this bar.

This terrible place.

But Aeryn had been to worse places.

The drink next to her elbow begged to be tasted, but Aeryn ignored her urges as she gazed at the doorway.

Aeryn was early.

Way too early.

She began to question her decision to come this early, and the fact that her Prowler would be standing at that dock for at least several arns, surrounded by eager, thieving, locals, before Aeryn would return.

How long would she have to wait?

Another arn?

Probably.

Hopefully not.

The man Aeryn had spoken to promised her, no, guaranteed her that the contact would meet her at the arranged spot.

Now where was he?

Perhaps he was already here...

Aeryn began to look around and examine the people around her.

But all these aliens looked the same.

Nothing special.

But it could be a ruse.

A test.

All these people could be in on it.

In on this test.

Even the bartender, who was looking at her right now.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Mind your own business." Aeryn said as she reached for her pulse pistol in her mind.

She was beginning to miss silence in this busy, noisy bar.

No, not silence.

She missed a particular sound. A noise. A hum.

Moya's hum.

"Well, what's this then?" a strange voice suddenly said loudly.

A strange-looking man entered with a bright smile on his face.

"Never been _here_ before," the man said.

Then the noise, the bright lights and the disgusting smell came to his senses.

"And now I know why," the man added. "Wow, that's...that's..."

"That's what?" the bartender said, clearly insulted by the man's thoughts.

"Unique." the man said after carefully choosing his words.

He then swaggered off towards the bar, keeping his hands within his pockets at all times.

Could this be him?

Her contact?

The man she was meeting?

This strange man, with his pine-stripe suit, light brown trench coat and big eyes?

"Could be worse." the man said, putting on his glasses as he inspected the place. "Could be much worse."

"What shall it be then?" the bartender asked.

"Oh, no drinks for me." The stranger said, taking off his glasses as he approached the bar. "I'm just here to absorb some of the atmosphere. To feel the vibes. To seize the day."

This tall, skinny man jumped on a barstool next to Aeryn, gazing at the stunned bartender with a smile after rearranging his coat to suit his position.

"This man was definitely Sebacean," Aeryn thought.

But Aeryn had been wrong before.

"What?" Aeryn asked.

The man just asked her a question and Aeryn hadn't heard it as she was lost in her own thoughts.

"I asked if you've ever been here before." The man said.

"No, I haven't." Aeryn answered.

"I thought as much." The man said. "You are a long way from home, am I right?"

"I have no home." Aeryn said. "Not anymore."

"Well, neither have I." the man said mysteriously as he sat beside her, facing the door and leaning with his hands upon the bar.

"I have a ship." Aeryn said.

"So have I." the man said intrigued as he looked deep into her eyes.

Aeryn looked away.

"I never stay in one place too long." the man said as he looked away as well and gazed upon the door, never letting it out of his sight as he resumed talking, just assuming Aeryn was listening to his words.

"I always travel from place to place. Help people when I can…"

He turned his face to Aeryn again, who felt like pressing her head against the bar again.

But she didn't.

"How many drinks have you had?" the man asked her, looking at the full glass of raslak.

His questions and words started to annoy Aeryn.

"None." she said as she looked defiant into his eyes.

But what she saw in those eyes frightened her for a moment.

Something ancient. Something powerful.

Something human.

But he only smiled.

For he looked in hers.

"Such sad eyes." he whispered to her.

Aeryn looked away in fright.

She was afraid that he might get too close.

Too close to her heart.

"Go away." Aeryn said.

"What?" the man asked surprised.

"Go away. Please."

"I didn't mean to…"

"Look." Aeryn said. "If you have any business with me, which I sincerely doubt, then please say so, if not then go away. Now."

The man slowly backed away with a strange look in his eyes.

"You're getting me all wrong." The man said to her. "I did not mean to…"

"Just go." Aeryn repeated.

The man was interrupted.

Aeryn saw in his eyes that he didn't like being interrupted in the middle of a sentence.

His words may have been important, but Aeryn did not care.

She hadn't intended to hurt him with such vicious words, but in the end she strangely enjoyed it somehow to see the hurt look in his eyes.

The man closed his mouth.

"All right." He answered after a slight pause, surprising Aeryn. "Fair enough."

He stood up from his stool with a mighty leap and left the bar.

Just like that.

But then he reappeared again, popping his head around the corner as he looked at Aeryn with his eyes squinted.

"But this is a public place." he said. "I can do whatever I want."

The other guests looked at him strangely as he re-entered the bar, walking past a large table where other aliens were playing a game resembling the human game of pool, and the man snatched a ball the size of his palm from the table and threw it in the air as a game as he approached Aeryn again.

She ignored the stranger with his strange smile and old eyes as he sat down beside her again on the small stool.

"I have a gun." Aeryn simply said, not even looking at the strange man with his long brown coat.

"I haven't." the man said. "I'm unarmed, well…not entirely unarmed…I still got this..."

He played with a strange object in his hands which he had quickly grabbed from the inner pocket of his coat and before Aeryn could look upon it the stranger had put it back again.

"So are you just going to sit here and annoy me?" Aeryn asked with a unsettling and unfriendly voice.

The bartender also looked upon the strange man, washing up a glass with a dirty towel as he was chewing on a piece of gum.

"Something like that." the man said, already annoying the dren out of Aeryn.

She held the glass of raslak in her hands but still would not drink one drop of the beverage.

"This isn't really the sort of place I usually go to." the man said.

"These dusty, claustrophobic bars…things…"

He looked around the bar again with an uncomfortable look on his face and he glanced at Aeryn once before going on with his monologue.

"I'm not much of a drinker really. One drop and I'm practically losing my mind. Although I do have my days…"

"Look, I'm really not in the mood for this sort of games…" Aeryn said. "So please frell off and go find someone else to rant to…"

"I'm not ranting." the man said, as if deeply insulted. "I tend to talk a lot, yes, but that doesn't make me someone who rants. Does it?"

"You know…" Aeryn said. "I really don't care."

BLAM!

A gunshot pierced the bar.

Aeryn immediately sat upright, reaching for her concealed weapon in a reflex.

As she gazed upon the figures dressed in black armour, she noticed the stranger beside her was looking at the other door, where even more attackers entered the bar.

The music was put to an abrupt end, and a man emerged from the group of commando's, taking off his mask and revealing himself to be Sebacean, with a large scar covering the right side of his face.

"Good evening, all!" the terrorist leader said. "Don't mind us! We're here looking for Solem! And we know he's here! Be so kindly to co-operate people and you will live through this day! Thank you!"

"You should've left when you had the chance." Aeryn whispered to the stranger.

"Perhaps you're right." he replied.


	2. The Choice

The terrorist leader bathed in pink light as he stepped upon the slightly elevated dancefloor.

People quickly stepped out of his way as he approached them, pushing over bar-stools as he harassed them into fearing him.

He seemed to pace about nervously. A manner which indicated that his plan had failed.

The strange man beside Aeryn scratched his nose as he kept his eyes fixed on the leader.

But Aeryn's eyes checked every exit and counted the fully armed men who had entered the bar as she slowly and invisibly reached for her gun.

She counted 8 soldiers, including the leader, but others could still be guarding the doors outside or reside in another part of the bar.

''Solem's not here, sir.'' one of the soldiers said to their leader as he lifted his visor.

The leader nodded in disappointment.

The darkness was replaced with bright light as the soldiers found the light switches in the back of the bar.

The bartender tried to say something, he tried to stop them or intervene as they slowly started to destroy his bar, but the soldiers simply pushed the coward back behind the bar.

''Anyone care to share their knowledge?'' the leader asked the people in the bar.

''Anyone want to tell me where Solem is? It is going to be the best day of your life if you do. I promise. I give you my frelling word!''

''Your word means nothing!'' a voice suddenly said.

Both Aeryn and the stranger looked to their left to see the drunk alien with three eyes cough and spit as the leader walked towards him.

The lights were reflected in his black leather uniform, with red triangular shapes covering his shoulders.

''You have some guts there, slimeball...''

''I spit on you!'' the drunk alien cried. ''You are rubbish! Garbage of the universe! Leader of looters and pillagers and...and...''

The alien couldn't control his own body anymore as he vomited all over the floor, before passing out, luckily, beside the puddle.

''Very tasteful...'' the leader said, clearly disgusted by this being. ''And who are you?''

His eyes caught Aeryn, and suddenly seemed to have caught fire.

The stranger beside Aeryn had trouble holding back his grin as the terrorist leader approached Aeryn.

She now could see the full depth of his scar and wounds of his face; souvenirs of battles and wars and accidents, carefully healed by a very skillfull Diagnosian or doctor.

''What is your name, gorgeous?'' the leader asked.

Aeryn smiled uncomfortably, hiding anger and thoughts.

''Don't call me gorgeous.'' Aeryn simply said.

The leader smiled.

''I like you already.'' he said, before suddenly turning to talk to the crowd again.

''My name is Mairic!'' he said. ''And I suggest you forget the drunk man's words and start listening to mine!''

''He likes you.'' the stranger whispered in Aeryn's ear with a cheeky smile.

''Shut up.'' Aeryn replied.

''I have no intention to harm any of you!'' Mairic went on. ''I am only looking for Solem!''

''But who is this Solem then?'' the stranger suddenly asked, raising his voice to match Mairic's as he adjusted his position on his stool.

''You're telling us all about this man, who you clearly want to see killed or captured or both, but you haven't told us anything about Solem! Who is he?''

''If you don't know, than you do not matter.'' Mairic said. ''And those who do know...are basically...''

He held up his gun.

''...frelled... if they don't reveal his whereabouts within 2 microts, because then I'd be forced to start torturing people to get that knowledge out of them...''

The bartender peeked over the bar one last time before he slowly and silently opened a secret hatch beneath the bar and escaped into the cellar.

Aeryn heard a faint sound as the hatch closed, but she did not pay it the attention it needed.

She was looking at the soldiers, and their familiar attire.

She recognised their armour. It was standard Peacekeeper infantry and soldier's armour, only theirs was battered, incomplete and rusty, a shell of what they used to be, scarred and scorched by battles unknown to her.

What were they?

Renegades? Defectors? Corrupt?

Or Peacekeeper Special Ops?

Oh, it wouldn't surprise Aeryn if it were.

''So what are you going to do now?'' the stranger asked, surprising Aeryn again with his bold questioning. ''Kill us all one at a time...not knowing whether any one of us is telling the truth?''

Mairic looked at the stranger as several soldiers circled the bar.

''Something like that.'' Mairic said as his eyes wandered around the bar.

A girl in the bar screamed as tears rolled down from her three eyes.

Others started talking and talking, others begged for mercy.

And others were still cradling their drink in disbelief of what was going on, hoping that time would speed up and they would find themselves in bed the next morning, safe and away from danger.

But unknown to them one of the soldiers was summoned into the restrooms.  
''Felias...'' another soldier said to her as she entered the restrooms.

''Hello, sir.'' the female soldier said, removing her helmet revealing her blond hair.

The man had disguised himself to look like one of the soldiers, indistinguishible from them, but all of the soldiers knew he was different, and far more important, looking up to him as their leader and friend.

''Tell Mairic to stop flirting with her, and get down to business.'' he said.

''Yes, sir.'' Felias said.

''And that man...'' he went on. ''With the brown coat...who is he?''

''I don't know sir.'' Felias answered. ''Grayem said he arrived five microts before us. And he also says that Aeryn does not know him.''

''She doesn't?'' the man asked. ''How strange.''

Voices in the bar grew louder and Mairic was heard demanding silence.

''Don't let him ruin our plans, Felias.'' he said.

Felias nodded as she put on her helmet.

''But don't harm him. I only want to test Aeryn. No-one gets hurt, you hear me?''

''Yes, Solem.'' Felias said.

''Good.'' Solem said.

''Silence!'' Mairic cried as Felias left the restroom. ''All of you! There will be no chaos here!''  
He held his gun up high for everyone to see, and everyone looked at him and became silent.

''I only want Solem!'' Mairic went on. ''He's here! I know he's here! And I know someone knows he's here!''

Felias walked towards Mairic and whispered something into his ear.

''You know this Solem?'' the stranger whispered to Aeryn as Mairic looked away.

Aeryn swallowed, and hesitated before saying anything to this stranger.

''Yes.'' Aeryn said. ''I have heard of him.''

Solem was the contact she was supposed to be meeting in this bar.

But he never showed up.

''You!'' Mairic cried.

He pointed at a seemingly random young man standing in the corner who was immediately grabbed by the soldiers and dragged into the centre of the bar.

Mairic grabbed him by the waistcoat and forced him upon his knees.

Aeryn noticed the stranger beside her turning pale as the boy cried for mercy.

''Don't kill me! Please!'' the boy cried. ''I know nothing of this! I don't know this Solem! Please!''

''Oh, I believe you.'' Mairic said. ''But I don't believe them!''

He pointed at the crowd who were either glad they weren't chosen or were fearing this boy's death.

''Please!''

''If no-one tells me where Solem is right now!'' Mairic said, looking upon Aeryn. ''Then he will die.''

Mairic aimed his weapon at the boy's head, until he was pushing it against his skull.

''Tell me now!'' Mairic said, still gazing in Aeryn's eyes.

But the look in the stranger's eyes turned from terror into confusion as he saw the way how Mairic looked at Aeryn, and how the young man faced death.

''Wait wait wait wait...'' the stranger muttered. ''This isn't right...''

He glanced from the boy to the soldiers who surrounded the place.

All looked down at the boy, but something was out of place.

''Something's wrong...'' the stranger said.

The boy was young, but not that young.

The boy was afraid, but not that afraid.

He was waiting.

Waiting for what?

''What the frell do you want, stranger?!'' Mairic said. ''Sit down or I shoot him! Sit down!''

But the stranger stood up and would not sit down.

''All right...'' the stranger said. ''I'm not sitting down.''

He placed his hands in the pockets of his large brown coat.

''You said you were going to shoot him, so go ahead. Make good on your promise. Shoot him.''

But Mairic's anger only grew as he looked into the stranger's witty eyes.

He realised that the stranger knew that he was not going to shoot.

''You frelling...'' Mairic said, glancing from the stranger to Aeryn, awaiting orders himself as the plan was ruined.

What was he going to do now?

''Go on!'' the stranger repeated, folding his arms. ''Shoot him then! Because I know you won't!''

Aeryn looked from Mairic to the soldiers, who were all confused and powerless, awaiting orders as they didn't know what to do.

And then she realised the stranger was right.

Mairic wasn't going to shoot him.

He wasn't going to shoot one of his own men!

The young man sat on his knees in front of Mairic, glancing in the gun's barrel with fear, thinking for a moment that Mairic actually was going to shoot.

But he didn't.

And the stranger simply smiled at Mairic with an annoying and arrogant smile.

''You frelling...you ruined everything!'' Mairic said, aiming his weapon at the stranger, and the stranger's smile slightly faded away.

But with a swift step Aeryn jumped beside the stranger to come to his aid, aiming her own weapon at Mairic.

''Oh, you've got to be frelling kidding me, here!'' Mairic shouted.

''I'm afraid we're not.'' the stranger said. ''If I was kidding, I'd be saying something like 'A horse walks into a bar...'''

''Don't.'' Aeryn said.

''Sorry.'' the stranger replied.

But in the cellar, the bartender heard all the noise and feared the worst.  
''I know.'' he said. ''I know you're hungry, but I haven't got anything here...''

The cellar was lit up by one little light, revealing dirty, dusty, desintegrating walls, consisting of old bricks.

There was one chair in the entire cellar, and the bartender was sitting on it.

''No, I haven't got anything.'' the bartender said, as if to a pet. ''No my dear. Your food is upstairs, in the cupboard. You ate everything here. There's no food here anymore.''

A roar interrupted his words.

''I know you're hungry, precious, I know.''

Another roar made him jump up from his old, wooden chair in fright.

''FOOD!'' a dangerous and rumbling voice demanded.

''There is no food here!'' the bartender replied fearfully, in a failed attempt to speak as if he was talking to a child.

But this child had grown up long ago.

''There are Peacekeepers upstairs in the bar. I can't go up there...''

''FOOD!'' the voice roared again.

Only a green tentacle was seen coming from the shadows in which the creature hid itself.

''FOOD!!''

The tentacle suddenly wrapped itself around the bartender's throat and lifted him into the air.

''FOOD!!''

The creature shook him about and threw him several times against the wall, before letting him go.

''All right...all right...'' the man said, coughing as he waved away the dust from the air.

His hands touched his fragile back as he got up from the floor.

''I'll get you some food, okay?''

''Food...''

''Okay?'' the bartender repeated.

''Just...just...don't do anything until I get back...just...be nice...not like you did last time okay? Not now...definitely not now...''

''Food...''

''My dear back...'' the bartender muttered as he limped his way out of the cellar.

''Food...'' the creature repeated.

Its green tentacle disappeared into the shadows as the light went out.


	3. The Test

"Now, will someone please tell us what's going on...before we all start shooting?" the stranger said, holding up his hands, seeing he was the only one without a gun.

He looked at the soldiers with a bold, curious and almost angry look in his eyes.

The young man who had sat on his knees in front of Mairic, waiting for something that would never happen, stood up and backed away from the circle in which Aeryn and the stranger were standing.

Aeryn's heart was racing, but she had everything under control.

She had no idea what was going on, but she knew that if anything were to happen, she would only have to duck and start shooting.

''Anybody?'' the stranger asked. "No?''

''This isn't about you.'' Mairic said.

''I know.'' the stranger said. ''This is about her.''

The stranger started walking towards Mairic, carefully placing his feet on the floor one step at a time, slowly lowering his hands into his pockets as he gazed into Mairic's eyes.

''This was all a test. To see what she would do in a situation like this.'' the stranger said. ''A very strange test if you ask me.''

He walked around the circle, from soldier to soldier, walzing about like a strange dance. One step at a time.

But never taking his eyes off Mairic.

''Tell me, what if I wasn't here, and Aeryn would have said nothing, would you have shot him?'' the stranger asked.

''Executed him like you said you would?''

Mairic did not say anything.

''Answer the question!'' Aeryn said.

She quickly revealed another gun from her boot and aimed it at another soldier.

The stranger saw that move and raised his eyebrow at her.

''Such violent personalities in this room.'' the stranger said. ''Guns and hostages and executions and god knows what more bloody business of the day you discuss when you are all by your self!''

''You have no idea.'' Mairic said.

''No, you have no idea.'' the stranger said, approaching Mairic again. ''Having blood on your hands is not something you can easily forget. And not something you can easily live with...''

The stranger and the terrorist leader stared at each other for a moment as their eyes got very close.

''Who are you?'' Mairic asked, raising his chin.

''I'm the Doctor.'' the stranger in the brown coat answered.

* * *

Felias and one other soldier were the only ones who did not point their weapons at the duo standing on the dancefloor. 

They were charged with keeping the crowd under control.

But Felias still kept looking back, hoping that Mairic wasn't going to do anything reckless or mad.

Out of vengeance or frustration.

His two weaknesses.

Felias was one of only two people who were part of the old garde. The first generation of silent assassins.

Within the Peacekeeper ranks. Beyond the Peacekeeper ranks. And everything in between.

She was one of two people who still remembered. All the others had died. But not her. And not Solem.

Felias still remembered how Mairic failed his test.

The others did not know, and Felias knew that Mairic was glad they didn't.

Felias closed her visor and turned her gaze to the crowd of people who were still held hostage, begging for mercy and to be let free.

Felias would have gladly done so, but Solem had not spoken of their release, and had not told her to do so, so Felias did not release them.

She followed her orders. And she hoped Mairic would do the same.

''You!'' she cried.

The bartender tried to make a run for it, but Felias caught him before he did, throwing him against the wall.

The objects which he held in his hands fell on to the ground.

''What were you doing?'' Felias asked, pointing the gun at his neck.

''I was...I was...'' the bartender muttered, but he could not come up with a good lie.

''I have to feed it...it's hungry...''

''What the frell are you talking about?'' Felias cried.

She looked over her shoulder at the hostages who were looking at what she was doing.

Quickly she grabbed the bartender and took him to a place out of sight.

''You have a lot of guts to defy me...you know that?'' Felias said.

''Defy you...what are you talking about?'' the bartender said.

''We are in control here.'' Felias said. ''And you do nothing, unless we say so. You hear me?''

''I...I...I hear you.'' the bartender said.

''Good.'' Felias said.

''But it needs food!'' the bartender cried.

''Who does?'' Felias asked.

''You wouldn't understand!'' the bartender said, suddenly grabbing Felias by her shoulders.

Felias pushed him away.

''What the frell do you think you are doing?'' Felias said.

The bartender looked at her, seemingly frightened, but the look on his face gave away that he was planning something.

''Huh?'' Felias asked.

The bartender suddenly pushed her and ran away.

Before Felias could follow him he had already disappeared.

But she was clever enough to see the hatch beneath her feet.

She opened it and gazed at a staircase, which lead into a darkness.

Felias took off her helmet so that she could see in the dark, telling her partner it would only take a microt as she grabbed her gun and descended down that staircase into the dark cellar.

* * *

Aeryn looked at this Doctor, gazing boldly into Mairic's eyes, not caring that there were at least five guns aimed at him that moment. 

And as Aeryn looked even closer, she could see a hint of an unspeakable rage behind those big eyes.

''Isn't it about time that you lower your weapons?'' the Doctor said.

Mairic slowly lowered his weapon, but not because the Doctor said so, but because he saw his superior officer behind the Doctor.

''He is right.'' Solem said. ''Lower your weapons.''

All soldiers slowly obeyed his command, lowering their weapons as the Doctor turned away from Mairic.

''No-one will get hurt today. Not unless I say so.'' Solem said.

''You.'' Aeryn said.

''You recognise me as the man you spoke a few days ago.'' Solem said. ''But I am not that man. That man was a lie.''

''You are Solem.'' the Doctor said, finally understanding how this test was played out.

''Indeed I am, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''If that is really your true name.''

Aeryn stepped in front of the Doctor to speak to Solem.

''You told me you were but a middle man, a spokesperson,'' Aeryn said. ''Not the leader himself.''

''A clever lie to see what you were made of.'' Solem said. ''To see if I could trust you. And the only way to know that is if I were to meet you myself.

This entire test was constructed to see if you would be trusted.''

''To see if I would sell out a stranger to help a stranger.'' Aeryn said.

''Exactly.'' Solem said. ''The perfect test of character. Would you save the life of one stranger, but condemn the other?''

''A cruel test, if you ask me.'' the Doctor said.

''Ah, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''The only man to ever doubt one of my tests. The only man to see the situation for what it really is. An illusion.''

''But all I ever saw was the product of a violent imagination.'' the Doctor said.

''It is our way of life, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''If you were to join our Squad, you would soon see the same way as us.''

''I'll pass, thank you.'' the Doctor said.

''And you?'' Solem asked, turning to Aeryn after a slight pause.

''Do you share his opinions now that you have seen past the illusions and tests?''

For a moment she gazed at his face.

Solem seemed much more powerful and beautiful than last time they met, but perhaps that was just because the situation had now changed, and so had her perspective of him.

''I came to you, remember?'' Aeryn said. ''I chose to contact you, so that I may become one of you. A member of the Peacekeeper Assassination Squad.''

Solem's blue eyes gazed at Aeryn.

''And my decision stands.'' Aeryn said. ''I want to join you.'' Aeryn said, trying desperately not to sound desperate.

She didn't want to plead, beg, for a place at his side.

For a function.

A purpose.

A new life.

''Such determination.'' Solem said.

''Sorry, what did you say?'' the Doctor suddenly said.

Aeryn awoke from her thoughts and turned to stare angrily at the stranger, who raised one arm from his pocket as his curiosity got the best of him.

''Peacekeeper, is that what you said?''

''Yes.'' Aeryn said, after regaining her voice.

''Peacekeeper...'' the Doctor repeated. ''Peacekeeper.''

He stared at a light for almost thirty seconds trying to figure out where he last heard that name.

''Oh, I know!'' he suddenly cried. ''The Peacekeeper Civil War.''

He seemed to congratulate himself on his own brilliance on remembering that event, but no-one in that room ever heard of it. But the Doctor's enthusiasm didn't end there.

''Wow,'' the Doctor went on. ''If thats so, I must be in deepest, furthest, darkest space...''

He looked around the place again, squinting his eyes, examining his surroundings to see if his conclusions were right.

''What the frell are you talking about?'' Mairic asked, standing behind the Doctor. ''There hasn't been a civil war among the Peacekeepers in...well...ever.''

The Doctor was silent for a slight moment.

''So there has never been a civil war...before...'' he whispered, looking from Aeryn to Solem.

''Then I must apologise.'' he went on, moving with his right hand through his hair and with his left supporting his words in subconscious sign-language.

''I probably shouldn't have said that. Unimportant. You know what, just forget I ever said that.''

They stayed silent for quite a bit as the Doctor's rant ended.

''You are a very strange man, Doctor.'' Solem finally said as the Doctor finished. ''Brilliant, but strange.''

''It's common, really.'' the Doctor said. ''Look at Einstein. He was mad as a hatter. Always a laugh hanging around with him.''

''Einstein...'' Aeryn repeated softly to herself.

Why did she know that name?

''How far away from home must you be, I wonder, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''So out of place, standing amongst simple soldiers.''

''Out of place. Out of time. That's me, really.'' the Doctor replied.

Those words again reminded Aeryn of someone she was desperate to forget.

Crichton.

John Crichton.

Why did everything about this stranger remind her of him?

The human who saved her.

The human who doomed her.

The human who died, but lived on.

Human.

Could this be the word Aeryn was looking for to desribe this stranger?

Could he be human?

* * *

''I almost had it,'' the bartender muttered in the dark. ''...but the Peacekeepers made me lose it. I couldn't bring it with me, I couldn't!'' 

He suddenly jumped and looked up as he heard someone coming down the staircase.

''What's this?'' Felias asked herself as she stepped on to the dusty floor. ''A cellar?''

The dark room was only slighty lit up by one faint little lightbulb, dangling from the ceiling by a thread and moving around as if someone had just gave it a shove.

''Where are you?'' Felias yelled. ''I know you're in here!''

''Don't shoot!'' the bartender cried as he stepped into the light.

''Please! Go away!''

''You get back up there!'' Felias ordered.

''Let me stay! Please!''

But all of a sudden the cellar seemed to move, trembling because of an enormous sound.

A gurgle, a rumble, a roar or growl.

Something was there. In the dark.

''Move out of the way.'' Felias said.

''No! Please no!'' the bartender cried as Felias aimed her weapon at the darkness.

But Felias closed one of her eyes as she tried to see past the darkness and aim for the creature.

The bartender closed his eyes and put his hands against his ears as he cried for mercy.

''Please don't kill her! Please don't!!''

But the creature did not listen to his words.

With a swift move of one of its green tentacles it grabbed Felias, whose final cries were unheard in the dark as she was devoured by the monster.

"No..." the bartender muttered.

He fell down on to his knees and cried. Tears were falling down on to his big moustache.

''Now the Peacekeepers will come and kill you, out of revenge for her death. You shouldn't have killed her!''

''I do whatever I want.'' a voice suddenly said in the darkness.

The bartender jumped back on his feet. His hair was standing upright in his neck.

''You can talk!'' he cried.

The creature seemed to laugh in the dark.

''I want more.'' the creature said.

''No...'' the bartender said.

''And if you won't...give me...I will take!''

The creature made the strangest noises and vomited on the floor in front of the bartender.

''What the frell!'' he cried.

Within the orange goo several strange little monsters were seen crawling.

White spider-like creatures, which seemed to hatch from their slimy shells, walking on yellow and green tentacles, slowly moved out of the goo and towards the bartender.

''No! Please no!'' the bartender cried.

''Yes, please yes!'' the creature replied, mimicking his use of words with his rumbling new voice.

* * *

''Don't think of me as wicked, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''I have only done what I believe is right.'' 

''Oh, I understand that.'' the Doctor replied.

''Different cultures, different beliefs, etcetera etcetera.''

They did not see the bartender walking amongst the crowd.

''Then you are indeed a wise man, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''And we shall depart ways peacefully.''

But the Doctor wasn't going to leave yet.

''But what about the hostages, Solem?'' he asked.

Aeryn looked at Solem, agreeing with the Doctor's words.

''They are but innocent bystanders.'' he said. ''You can't...''

''I thought you understood me, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''I am no cruel man. I was never going to harm any of them.''

No-one saw how the yellow creatures multiplied and attacked the people all at a time, crawling upon shoulders and heads and into a soldier's visor, smashing the glass of her helmet.

Silently and deadly.

''In fact, to show you the sincerity of my words, I shall release them right now.''

Solem tapped his comms.

''Felias, release the hostages.'' Solem said, before looking at the Doctor again.

''I made a promise today, Doctor, that no-one would be harmed today during this test. And so far, I have been true to my word.''

''Well, Solem.'' the Doctor said, gazing with a fearful, but bold look at the people who slowly surrounded them.

''I'm afraid you are going to have to break that promise.''

''What the frell?'' Aeryn said, reaching for her gun in a reflex, as the hostages turned on them, slowly staggering towards their victims.

Their green eyes burned brightly.

The Squad mimicked Aeryn's movements and aimed at the green-eyed zombies, who stretched out their arms in an attempt to infect them as well.


	4. The Attack

An unknown sound seemed to come from below, causing a rumbling which spread through the building.

''Stand your ground!'' Solem said to his fellow soldiers.

The zombies staggered towards them, falling over barstools as they did not pay attention to anything but their targets and future victims.

''What the frell is going on?!'' Aeryn said.

''Stand your ground!'' Solem repeated.

Their green eyes lit up brightly, even when bathing in bright light as they were now.

''Kayra, what are you doing?'' Mairic said, looking at his fellow soldier standing amongst the zombies.

As one of them.

''Kayra!'' Mairic cried, reaching out towards her.

''Don't touch her!'' Solem said, pulling him away.

Yellow tentacles emerged from her mouth, reaching for Mairic in a deadly attempt to infect him.

Green slime was smudged all over Kayra's broken helmet.

''I'm giving you one last chance!'' Solem said.

Aeryn looked at how the zombies succesfully managed to surround them completely, blocking out almost every possible way of escape.

''Stop now and we will not shoot! I repeat, we will not shoot and you will live!''

The soldiers did as Solem ordered. They stood their ground.

But slowly they were forced back. One step at a time.

With their fingers at their triggers.

And fear gripping their hearts.

''This is your final warning!'' Solem cried, but the zombies would not listen to his words.

They kept on coming, and they kept on forcing them back.

Until their backs were against the walls.

The Doctor stood in the centre of the circle of soldiers, standing frozen like a statue, gazing upon the zombies with a fearful rage in his heart.

''All right!'' Solem said. ''Everyone! FIRE!''

The soldiers opened fire at the zombies.

But the shots backfired!

Something invisible blocked the path of the pulse-fire and reflected it back upon the Peacekeeper Squad, hitting two of the Peacekeepers in the process.

But they kept on firing, not knowing what else to do.

Not realizing that struggling would only quicken their defeat.

''What do we do?'' Mairic cried.

But Solem was left speechless, staring at Kayra, standing amongst the zombies with yellow tentacles and green eyes.

Something he never dreamed of happening. Not even in his nightmares.

The zombies grabbed two more soldiers and embraced them with their slimy tentacles, adding two more to their unbeatable army.

''What do we do, Solem!'' Mairic cried. ''Solem! Give us an order! What do we do?!''

Solem said nothing.

''We run.'' the Doctor suddenly said.

They turned around to see the Doctor standing in a doorway, which lead to a staircase.

''What are you waiting for!'' the Doctor cried. ''Go!''

Aeryn grabbed a soldier's shoulder and pushed him towards the Doctor, who helped the Peacekeeper climb the staircase.

Aeryn followed, fighting her way out of the bar and on to the staircase, where the Doctor stretched out his warm hands to help her.

''Mairic! Go! Go!'' Solem cried, fighting off the zombies all by himself now as the remaining soldiers were all surrounded and defeated.

Solem pushed Mairic into the Doctor's arms, before Mairic climbed the stairs to the second floor.

Aeryn watched from behind the Doctor.

Mairic tried to convince her to run upstairs, but she wouldn't budge.

''Get out of there, Doctor!'' Aeryn cried.

''No!'' Mairic said. ''Save Solem! Get him out of there!''

''If he stays any longer the zombies will get him too!'' Aeryn said.

''If he won't than I will!'' Mairic said.

''No!'' the Doctor cried. ''Stay there!''

The green eyes surrounded the Doctor, still stretching out his hand to Solem, who was fighting off the zombies with the back of his rifle.

''Solem!'' the Doctor cried. ''Take my hand!''

''No Doctor!'' Solem said. ''Leave without me! Go! Save yourself!''

''This isn't the time for heroics, Solem! Don't be foolish and take my hand!''

''Just go!''

''Solem!''

It was the possessed Kayra who grabbed the Doctor's left hand all of a sudden, taking him by surprise.

Aeryn grabbed the Doctor's right hand to keep him from being grabbed by the zombies.

''Solem!'' the Doctor still yelled as he managed to break free of the zombie's grip.

''There's nothing we can do Doctor!'' Aeryn said. ''Now come on!''

They climbed the staircase, which lead to the last remaining soldier, standing beside a red, wooden and scratched, old door.

It was locked, but Aeryn swiftly kicked it open to reveal a large storage-room full of long and tall cabinets and boxes, all stacked and filled with bottles of booze and wine, all covered with dust and spider-webs.

Aeryn lead the way inside the storage-room, but just as they thought they were safe they heard sounds coming from the hallway they had just left.

The zombies were following them up the stairs.

''Close the door! Close the door!'' the Doctor yelled.

''I can't!'' Mairic said, looking down on the broken lock.

The Doctor forced him aside, put on his glasses yet again and revealed a strange tool which he took out of the inner pocket of his suit.

The tool lit up brightly blue as it hummed a strange sound and fixed the lock and door within mere seconds.

''That should do the trick!'' the Doctor said, locking the door.

''That won't stop them from coming in!'' Aeryn yelled.

''Oh, it will!'' the Doctor said. ''Trust me.''

They all breathed heavily and awaited in anxiety as the zombies climbed the staircase and approached the door.

They could hear their voices behind the door.

The zombies tried to open it, pushed, clawed, scratched and tried everything their empty minds could possible imagine, but none of them was able to break the Doctor's lock.

Proudly, the Doctor put his tool back into its place.

He looked around the storage-room and loosened his tie.

''Now that was quite an adventure back there.'' he said.

Mairic did not appreciate his comment.

None of them heard the mysterious laughter coming from the basement, gaining in strength as the creature's power grew...

''This place seems secure.'' Aeryn said, coming back from her round as she checked the storage-room for exits, weak points or any strategical advantages.

But would anything work against those green eyed things when guns won't be able to defeat them?

''Psychic barriers.'' the Doctor said. ''That's why you can't hit them with your weaponry. Psychic shielding which deflects physical attacks...''

''Impossible.'' Mairic said.

''Not impossible...'' the Doctor said. ''Just unheard of, that's all.''

He had taken off his coat and placed it on a shelf in one of the cabinets.

He had clearly wiped away the dust and spider-webs off the shelf before doing so, of course.

His blue, striped suit was almost contrasting this dark, dusty storage-room, where the only thing which penetrated the darkness was the cold moonlight which entered through the small windows.

''Psychic barriers...'' the Doctor muttered to himself. ''How the hell can they do that? Something must've generated that field. To protect them from any harm and guide them to victory.''

''You're saying that something else is controlling this...from the outside?'' Mairic asked.

''That's exactly what I'm saying.'' the Doctor said, pacing about the place again.

He seemed to like doing that.

His bolging eyes looked slightly bigger with his glasses on.

''Something. Somewhere.'' the Doctor went on. ''These zombies aren't smart enough to generate a psychic shield around them. Look at them! They barely were able to stand! Let alone walk! Let alone generate a nearly impossible shield which could deflect pulse-weapons! And by the way, how ironic is it that you people, you soldiers, carry something like an arsenal around with you...all day...everywhere...and right when you needed them...they're useless...''

The Doctor smiled all of a sudden, looking so bright and arrogant as he looked at Mairic, Aeryn and the soldier sitting in the corner.

Aeryn said nothing.

''You weren't much help either, Doctor.'' Mairic said.

''I got you out of there remember?'' the Doctor said.

''What's your name?'' Aeryn asked the soldier, sitting quietly in the corner.

He had still left on his helmet and gear, unlike Mairic who had stripped himself off his heavy armour to walk around more comfortably.

''What?'' the boy said, looking up at Aeryn.

''Your name...'' Aeryn repeated, removing the helmet off of the soldier's head.

''Baelen.'' the soldier said.

''How old are you, Baelen?'' Aeryn asked the runaway teenager.

''Old enough.'' he replied swiftly and almost angrily.

''That's what I thought.''

''I need to know what I'm fighting here...'' the Doctor said, carrying on the discussion, appearing not to hear the soft conversation between Aeryn and the boy.

But Aeryn saw his kind gaze lingering on her for just a moment when she looked at him through the corners of her eyes.

She only blinked and did not return his gaze.

''Zombies...and psychic barriers...'' the Doctor began summarizing.

''Don't be frightened.'' Aeryn said.

''I'm not frightened.'' the boy said.

''And green eyes...'' Mairic added.

''Green eyes...'' the Doctor repeated. ''Green eyes...''

''And tentacles!'' Mairic said.

''Tentacles!'' the Doctor said, his mind was racing to find the answer.

But the puzzle was incomplete, lacking the pieces which the Doctor needed to find the solution.

The solution to get out of this mess.

''Are we going to get out of here?'' Baelen asked Aeryn.

''Yes.'' she answered.

''Alive?'' Baelen asked.

For a moment Aeryn hesitated.

BANG!

Someone was banging at the door.

The Doctor's locked door.

''Let me in!'' a voice cried. ''Let me in!''

''Solem?'' Mairic said.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed slightly, but his face remained emotionless, hiding dark thoughts and anger as he gazed upon the door in terror.


	5. The Mistake

''Don't do it.'' the Doctor said.

''Open the door!'' the voice behind the door cried, pounding at the door with his fists.

Mairic looked from the door to the Doctor.

The Doctor's large eyes urged him not to open that door.

''Please!'' the voice cried. ''They're coming! Please open the door!''

''Doctor...'' Aeryn said.

''I'm telling you...don't open that door!''

He pointed with his skinny finger at Mairic.

''Can't you hear him, Doctor?'' Mairic said. ''It's Solem!''

''I know you're in there! I haven't got much time!'' the voice cried.

''It's not Solem.'' the Doctor said.

''It is!'' Mairic replied.

''He could have escaped!'' Baelen said, crawling up from the ground with a large discomfort.

His heavy armour pressed him down, but Aeryn helped the boy to get up.

''He could have!'' Baelen added.

Aeryn saw the gleam of hope in the Doctor's eyes. A large trembling reflection in his pupils, hoping that they were right.

But what if they weren't?

Aeryn wondered too if the Doctor was right.

The last time they saw Solem he was surrounded by the possessed people with no chance of escape.

But yet here Solem was. Standing at their doorstep. Begging to be let in.

''He is either dead...or one of them.'' the Doctor said.

''I am urging you...begging you...not to open that door...''

''But what if he did live, Doctor?'' Aeryn asked. ''What if he did escape?''

Aeryn saw the dilemma in the Doctor's eyes.

''I'm opening it.'' Mairic said.

''No!'' the Doctor cried.

''Back off, Doctor.'' Mairic said, aiming his gun at the stranger. ''Solem is my leader. My friend. He's almost like family to me.''

The Doctor said nothing, and did nothing but blink at the Peacekeeper as he defiantly returned his gaze, before he turned around to open the door.

Aeryn hesitated to support either of them, not knowing who would be right and who would be wrong.

And there would only be one way of finding out.

Mairic broke the Doctor's seal and opened the door.

And there he was.

Solem.

Battered, bleeding and utterly devastated.

He fell into Mairic's arms, broken and tired, and one half of his face smudged in his own blood.

''Solem!'' Baelen cried, rushing to Mairic's aid as they dragged Solem out of the hallway.

Aeryn immediately walked around them and closed the door, looking down on the wounded Peacekeeper leader.

''What happened to you?'' Mairic asked.

The Doctor merely put his hands in his pockets as he looked down on Solem with a doubtful gaze, fearing the worst, but hoping the best.

''I fought my way out of there.'' Solem said with difficulty. ''Like any right man would try to do.''

''Did they infect you?'' Baelen asked. ''Did they put their tentacles inside your mouth?''

Baelen curiously and fearfully peeked into Solem's mouth.

''No.'' Solem said. ''I made sure that they didn't.''

Mairic glanced angrily at the Doctor.

''If we would have listened to you he would have been dead by now.'' Mairic said.

The Doctor said nothing.

''Doctor.'' Solem said, trying to get up with difficulty and pain, but Baelen and Mairic helped him.

Aeryn looked at the stranger, who seemed to tower over them all.

''You know what is going on, don't you Doctor?'' Solem said. ''There is something you are not telling us and I can feel it.''

''What are you talking about Solem?'' Mairic asked. ''What did you see down there?''

''You wouldn't believe it if I told you.'' Solem answered, not taking his eyes off the stranger.

Aeryn looked at Solem, and how he gazed upon the Doctor in rage.

''You stand amongst us as one of us.'' Solem said. ''But you are not, are you?''

''Tell us, Solem.'' Mairic said. ''What did you see?''

The rumbling appeared again, trembling the building through its very foundations.

It appeared every few minutes, but this time was the strongest it has ever been.

''Solem, stop it!'' Aeryn suddenly heard her saying.

Was she actually defending this stranger?

''You're just looking for someone to blame...for your pain, for your loss!'' Aeryn said.

Solem wiped the blood off his cheeks and spit a mix of saliva and blood upon the floor. His dark eyes violently gazed at the Doctor, who did not say a word as he mysteriously gazed back.

"This is not helping!" Aeryn yelled as she tried to pull herself and the others together. "We should stand together... not blame each other for what is happening! We'll be playing right into the hands of the enemy! Solem!''

''You're right, Aeryn." Solem said. "But sowing distrust is one thing. Unveiling the truth is another.''

''He is right.'' Mairic said, never questioning the words of his leader.

''This stranger disrupted our test and initiation!" Mairic yelled angrily. "And that's when it all started!''

''Doctor, is this true?'' Aeryn said.

Was it true?

''Doctor, say something!'' Aeryn said.

Could it be that they had their enemy amongst them the entire time?

Manipulating them...analyzing them...playing things out...as a game...as a test...to test us...

A test within a test.

''I am not your enemy.'' the Doctor said softly, with a low rumble in his voice.

''Think about it, Aeryn...'' Solem said. ''How much do we really know about him?''

''Nothing.'' Mairic said.

Baelen stood beside Mairic and Solem, helping Solem to stand up still, looking fearfully from side to side as he heard their words.

Solem was his leader. His friend.

Whatever he said had to be right.

''I know much about illusions, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''So I know your game. It takes one to know one, doesn't it?''

''You are wrong.'' the Doctor said softly.

Aeryn kept on gazing at the stranger, wondering if Solem was right.

It all made sense, but still Aeryn had not reached for her weapon yet.

Something was wrong, and she could feel it in her stomach.

''Am I?'' Solem said. ''Am I wrong?''

Solem kept on blinking abnormally, but no-one seemed to notice.

''What did you do to them, Doctor?'' Mairic asked. ''What did you turn them into? Tell us now, Doctor!''

''You are a man of illusions, Solem.'' the Doctor said. ''But one day the curtain will fall for you. One day someone will see through those illusions of yours. Well, that day...is today.''

Solem wanted to say something but didn't.

''You are not Solem.'' the Doctor said. ''And you know how I know that?''

The Doctor now gazed right into Solem's eyes.

''Your green eyes...'' he said.

Mairic turned his head to look at Solem.

Aeryn reached for her weapon.

And so did Solem, with an unexpected and swift move, as he grabbed the weapon from Baelen's holster and shot Mairic in the stomach.

Mairic fell to the ground, and so did Baelen as he received a punch against his jaw.

Solem aimed his weapon at Aeryn, but she already aimed her gun at him.

But neither was able to pull the trigger as the Doctor grabbed Solem and pushed him against the door, slamming it open by accident upon impact.

The Doctor's lock had already been broken when Mairic opened the door before.

They stumbled out on to the hallway, where the Doctor was greeted by an army of possessed people, awaiting their moment to attack.

Which was now.

The Doctor ran back into the storage-room, where Aeryn joined his side, aiming her gun at the door.

''Don't shoot.'' the Doctor said. ''It'll only deflect back upon us.''

The possessed Solem entered the doorway, with an army of his own kind awaiting his command.

''He didn't have any green eyes.'' Aeryn said, looking at Solem, who was wiping slime from his eyes.

''No, I lied.'' the Doctor said, slightly smiling. ''But he believed it and that's all that matters.''

By wiping the slime from his eyes, Solem revealed his true nature: his green, shiny eyes.

''What are you?'' the Doctor asked.

''You are a clever man, Doctor.'' Solem said, cradling the pulse-weapon in his hands.

''I trust you to work it out yourself.''

''Oh, I will.'' the Doctor said.

Baelen slowly stood up, cradling Mairic's gun with bloodstains on his hands and eyes full of tears and anger.

''You killed Mairic...you killed them all!'' Baelen cried.

Mairic was lying dead on the floor. Baelen tried to help him, but he did not know how.

''Poor little child...'' Solem said.

''I remember how you passed your test...begging for a place at my side...''

He stepped slowly into the storage-room, only looking at the ground before he finally looked at them.

''Something you did too...'' Solem said to Aeryn. ''Only for different reasons...but the motivation was the same...''

He turned to Baelen again.

''So what are you going to do?'' Solem said. ''Kill me?''

''Baelen...'' Aeryn said.

''I don't think you will...'' Solem said.

Baelen pulled the trigger, but the shot deflected off Solem, like they suspected, and it hit the ceiling with a bright, short burst of light.

''You shouldn't have done that!'' Solem said, looking into Baelen's frightened eyes with his evil and bright, green eyes, which lit up in the darkness.

Solem lifted his arm and aimed his weapon at the boy, before shooting him.

''Baelen!'' Aeryn cried, but the Doctor stopped her from aiding the boy.

''Why did you kill him?'' the Doctor asked. ''Why didn't you add him to your army?''

''I have more than enough people now.'' Solem said. ''My children now roam the streets as well, all infected and all mine.''

''But why?'' the Doctor asked.

''Questions, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''The things I hate the most. Questions.''

''There will always be questions.'' the Doctor said. ''No matter where you go.''

''You still point a gun at me...'' Solem said to Aeryn. ''Why?''

Aeryn didn't know why.

It was instinct.

A habit.

A compulsion.

If she didn't point her gun at him, she would not feel safe.

She would panick.

She had to point her gun at him.

She didn't know why.

''A question that will soon be answered.'' Solem said.

Suddenly Solem opened his mouth and within seconds a strange yellow creature seemed to emerge from his mouth and jumped through the air towards Aeryn.

''No!'' the Doctor cried.

The creature attached itself to Aeryn's face and forced itself down her throat.

Aeryn fell to the ground, still clutching her weapon, but she slowly lost control of her body and senses.

''Look at me, Aeryn!'' the Doctor said, holding her head in his hands. ''Look at me!''

''She is now ours, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''And there's nothing you can do to stop it.''

''Aeryn! Aeryn...NO!!'' the Doctor cried.

''Surrender now, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''Or I am afraid I will have to kill you...''

''No...'' the Doctor said.

''Join us, or die.'' Solem concluded.

''Never!'' the Doctor said.

''Then die, Doctor!'' Solem said, shooting the cabinets in the storage-room, one at a time.

Everything now caught fire as the sparks met the booze and ignited into flames.

''Such a pity...'' Solem said. ''So many questions still left unanswered...so many questions still...''

The Doctor lifted Aeryn into the air and ran into the flames, quickly grabbing his coat off a shelf as he ran past it.

He carried her away and ran into the smoke and flames, until Solem saw them no more.

"Stay with me, Aeryn!'' the Doctor said. "I can't do this alone!"

The flames followed in his wake.

"I need you!" he yelled at her, as she lay in his hands unconscious. "I'm not about to lose you too!

"Aeryn!''


	6. The Illusion

''What did you steal?''

''What do you mean?''

''I mean...Chiana...what did you steal?'' Crichton said.

''I stole nothing...what, are you frelling kinkoid or something?'' Chiana replied.

''Do you want me to wake Aeryn?'' Crichton said.

''I didn't steal anything!''

''Do you?'' Crichton went on.

''I am already awake.'' Aeryn said.

Her entire body ached as she slowly got up, pushing the cover from her legs.

A comfortable warmth was replaced by a sudden cold, which sent shivers down her spine.

Her surroundings were still out of focus as she wiped her eyes, not sure whether she was awake or still asleep.

Aeryn welcomed the familiar sounds of Moya to her ears.

''I wasn't stealing!'' Chiana cried still.

''She wasn't stealing, John.'' Aeryn replied.

''She wasn't?'' John said.

''No.'' Chiana said. ''Aeryn borrowed this from me. I'm just taking it back.''

''Well, that's just...my bad.'' John muttered.

''I'm no Hynerian!'' Chiana cried.

''How dare you say that!'' a voice suddenly cried. ''I never steal!''

''No, you give yourself gifts which belongs to others!'' Chiana replied.

A tantrum and argument followed, which was neither important or fun to follow.

Both Chiana and Rygel were teasing each other with insults like they always did, since the day they met.

But John lowered himself on to the bed and started kissing Aeryn.

His lips tasted so sweet.

''Hey...'' John whispered.

''Hey...'' Aeryn replied.

John lovingly put his hand on Aeryn's large, round belly.

''How does that feel?'' John asked. ''To carry our child?''

''It feels good.'' Aeryn said, embracing his hand with the same love as their lips met once again.

* * *

''Starbursting in...five...four...three...two...one..." 

Pilot initiated StarBurst and the familiar trembling occurred, but none of them seemed to notice anymore.

They had traveled so long aboard Moya that the once annoying side-effects of StarBurst now were so usual that Moya would not be the same if there weren't any trembling during StarBurst.

Aeryn held on to the wall as she let the dentic in her mouth do its work.

She stared into the mirror at her own reflection.

She didn't know why.

Something seemed to move, but as Aeryn turned around...it was gone.

A hint of blue in a chamber of gold.

Aeryn did not know what it was, and shook her head as her thoughts concluded it to be a hallucination.

She still had not waken properly.

She walked to the toilet and spit the dentic out, before flushing it away.

And after that she drank some water from the wall and threw some of it in her face, making her feel so much better and awake.

''Are you all right?'' John asked, sticking his head around the corner.

''I'm fine, John.'' Aeryn said, lifting her own heavy and sorry ass out of the room.

She still couldn't get used to the belly.

The baby had grown so quickly.

''Come on.'' John said. ''Let me lend you a hand.''

John escorted her to Command, where an annoying voice suddenly began to shout when Moya left StarBurst.

''There it is!'' Jool cried. ''My home! My home! There it is!''

''You do know that thirty cycles have past, right?'' D'Argo said to Jool, with pure and honest sympathy.

''I do.'' Jool said.

''A lot of things could have happened in thirty cycles.'' D'Argo added.

A slight pause followed as D'Argo looked into Jool's eyes.

''A lot."

''Yes, I know, D'Argo.'' Jool said. ''You've all been telling me that since we found that beacon! But it's my home! You of all people should know that I don't care about the thirty cycles!''

''What's happening?'' John asked entering Command.

Aeryn simply kept walking until she stood in front of the view portal, gazing outside at the planet below them.

''It's beautiful.'' Aeryn said.

''Thank you.'' Jool said. ''I know you'll love it too.''

But Aeryn's thoughts merely dwelled on her child as she placed her hands near her hips.

A home.

A place to settle.

To live a life.

To become a family.

Something she never had.

Something she doesn't want to have.

But John wants to.

She can see it in his eyes.

And she can feel it inside her, right now.

Their child.

Their future.

''So when will the little narl be born?'' Chiana asked, noticing the way Aeryn stared into space.

''It's a geometric pregnancy.'' Aeryn said.

''And what's that?'' Chiana asked, moving her hips about as she danced around Aeryn, observing her belly.

''It's basically a matter of days.'' Aeryn answered.

''Ooh...'' Aeryn said. ''Did you feel that?''

''What?'' Chiana said, placing her hands on Aeryn as well.

''The baby...the baby kicked...''

''How does that feel?'' Chiana asked. ''Pretty weird, right?''

''Stop asking her so many questions...'' John said, interrupting their moment.

Aeryn mouthed the words 'thank you' at John, who simply brushed her shoulder lovingly with his hands, before examining the consoles.

She still could not get used to this.

Being pregnant.

It felt so weird.

As if nothing was there, but yet it was.

''Can we go down yet?'' Jool asked excieted. ''Can we go down yet?''

''We are still awaiting permission, Joolushko.'' Pilot said.

His blue head appeared on the clamshell.

''Then why is it taking so long?'' Jool asked.

''He doesn't know, Jool.'' Chiana said. ''Asking him every single microt does not change that.''

''I know. I know.'' Jool said, backing off.

''Pilot, are you getting this?'' John said. ''There are some strange readings here...Pilot can you see what I'm seeing?''

Aeryn turned around to see John reading analyses charts.

''I see it, Commander.'' Pilot replied. ''The readings are coming from the moon!''

''What moon?'' Aeryn said. ''I didn't see no moon.''

And there it was.

All of a sudden, in the midst of space in front of them, tiny compared to the planet, but large compared to the view portal.

The moon that had not been there before.

''What the frell?'' Aeryn said.

''What's the matter, Aeryn?'' D'Argo asked.

''Aeryn?'' John asked.

''That moon wasn't there before.'' Aeryn answered.

''What?'' John said. ''Aeryn, that moon has been staring at you the whole time.''

''What?'' Aeryn repeated.

''It was there.'' John concluded.

''I'm going home! I'm going home!'' Jool cried excited in the background.

''Can we go down yet, Pilot?''

''I distinctly recall one planet.'' Aeryn said. ''No moon.''

''Aeryn, are you feeling all right?'' John asked.

''Aeryn?'' D'Argo asked.

''I'm fine.'' Aeryn said. ''It's just...''

There was no moon before. Aeryn was sure of it. And now it was there.

''Maybe you have to lie down for a bit.'' John said.

''I just woke up.'' Aeryn said. ''How can I be sleepy if I just woke up?''

''Aeryn...'' John said.

''I'm pregnant, not incapacitated, John.'' Aeryn replied, pointing at the view-screen. ''That planet did not have a moon!''

But yet that moon kept on gazing at her, reflecting bright sunlight into her eyes.

''Aeryn, come on.'' D'Argo said. ''Let's go to the common room, okay? Perhaps you will feel fine after you've eaten...''

* * *

The food she ate had no taste.

She never felt it enter her stomach, and when she was finished eating, she was still just as hungry as she was before.

And she was still convinced she hadn't seen a moon.

''Aeryn, are you sure you're all right?'' D'Argo asked.

Aeryn shook her head, shaking her thoughts away.

''Yes, D'Argo.'' Aeryn said. ''I'm fine.''

But she wasn't.

Something was terribly wrong.

And she knew it.

She could feel it.

''Are you sure?'' D'Argo said.

Aeryn sighed.

''No.'' she said.

* * *

''...seems perfectly all right to me...''

Jool had examined Aeryn fully and properly, and she hadn't found anything that could explain the way Aeryn felt.

"And the baby?'' Aeryn said fearfully as she got out of her initial position.

"The baby is as healthy as ever." Jool said.

"Then what is wrong with me?" Aeryn asked.

''Well, I don't see that there's anything wrong with you.'' Jool said. ''So the only thing I think is the cause of all your problems is just stress.''

''Stress?'' Aeryn said.

''Having a baby is a stressful job, Aeryn.'' Jool said.

''And you know about having babies?'' Aeryn asked.

''No, but...'' Jool tried to say.

''Then you don't know what you are talking about, do you?'' Aeryn said, almost pushing her out of her way as she left the infirmary.

''Hormones.'' D'Argo smiled to Jool, before following Aeryn.

This wasn't just stress.

Aeryn could feel it.

This was something bigger than that.

Something far worse.

''Concentrate Aeryn.''

Something far more evil.

''Focus on my voice.''

A hint of blue down the corridor.

A voice that beckoned her to follow.

''Aeryn...focus on my voice...that's it...''

Aeryn couldn't help but follow the voice, taking slow steps at a time.

One foot in front of the other.

Slowly walking down Moya's hallways.

''...you're almost there Aeryn...''

''Aeryn, what are you doing?'' D'Argo said, seeing Aeryn walk through the corridors in a almost hypnotized state.

''Aeryn?''

''Focus on my voice...''

''John! You'd better get down here!'' D'Argo cried.

He tried to stop Aeryn, but she wouldn't let him, muttering words against the Luxan as she pushed him away.

But her efforts to follow the voice came to an abrupt halt as all faded into black.

And the next thing she saw was the infirmary.

Again.

Her eyes adjusted to the bright lights, seeing someone dressed in blue standing right beside her bed.

''Thank the Godess, she's awake.''

''What?'' Aeryn said, getting up to see Zhaan standing beside her bed.

''Aeryn!'' John cried, rushing to her aid. ''What happened? Are you all right? Is she all right?''

''She's fine.'' Zhaan said. ''That's what troubles me. Nothing explains these seizures she is having...''

Those words were like poison to Aeryn's ears.

She clung to Crichton as she tried to escape the impossible.

''You're dead!'' Aeryn said. ''You can't be here!''

''And now she's delirious as well.'' Zhaan said, before looking through her apothecary.

''But I have something that will remedy that.''

''No...'' Aeryn muttered. ''You can't be real. You died...!''

''What are you saying?'' Zhaan asked.

But as Aeryn looked at Crichton and back at Zhaan, Zhaan disappeared, and suddenly Aeryn found herself in her quarters, still holding John's hand.

''Who died?'' Jool asked.

Aeryn looked at Jool.

How could this have happened?

One minute she was staring at Zhaan, the next she was gazing at Jool!

''Aeryn?'' John asked. ''Are you all right?''

Aeryn climbed off her bed and forced John to let go off her hand, backing away from them, walking backwards to the door.

''What the hell is going on?'' Aeryn said. ''Am I going crazy, or is this some kind of joke?''

She kept backing away, but when she finally reached the doorway she bumped into someone else , wearing a blue pined-striped suit.

''Hello!" the Doctor said loudly with a big smile. "No time to chat, I'm afraid!''

The Doctor took hold of Aeryn's hand and waved at John and Jool. ''Bye!''

And he didn't let go as he ran away, taking Aeryn with him, to run down Moya's golden corridors.

''Allons-y!''


	7. The Fight

''Aeryn, are you all right?''

Aeryn looked around Command.

They were all looking at her strangely.

Crichton, Chiana, D'Argo, Rygel, Jool.

They all stopped to look at Aeryn, who entered slowly.

Her mind was elsewhere.

''Aeryn, honey?'' John said.

An enormous weight seemed to be put on top of Aeryn that moment.

Pressing her down on to the ground.

Aeryn could barely stand and hold her own weight.

She was sweating.

She could hardly think.

But she had to.

''Remember me.'' he had said.

''Do you remember me?''

Aeryn remembered how the Doctor took her hand and dragged her all over the ship, running like the wind.

Running and running.

Until they'd reached a large door, and the stranger in the blue suit pulled her inside.

''I've analyzed every single one of your neurological pathways, and whenever one door closed, another was opened.'' the Doctor said. ''Leading all the way here.''

Aeryn looked at the Doctor with disbelief and fear, feeling her heart throbbing in her throat.

''Aeryn, do you remember me?'' the Doctor asked her.

''Aeryn?'' John said.

Aeryn tried to remember, but the creature was pushing it away.

The creature.

The stars.

Aeryn remembered the stars, and the orange glow of the nebula she gazed upon.

The nebula.

Aeryn remembered where the Doctor had taken her.

The terrace.

''The only place where you feel safe.'' the Doctor said, looking fascinated at the stars after sealing the door with his strange tool.

And somehow, the Doctor was right.

Aeryn felt safe. At peace.

The rumbling which she had never noticed before, had stopped.

It had always been there, but only now, in its absence did she really feel its effects.

Aeryn gazed upon the stars, embracing the sensation of freedom again.

''Aeryn,'' Crichton said. ''Jool, D, Chiana and I are going down to the planet. You want to come?''

Aeryn looked at the view portal.

There it was.

The moon that wasn't there.

''It's not real, Aeryn.'' the Doctor had said to her.

His eyes glowing with an inner strength and unknown wisdom which seemed to inspire her to do the same.

To be strong.

''None of this is real.''

''No.'' Aeryn said to Crichton. ''I won't go.''

Crichton looked at her strangely, like he did not believe her words.

Like she was ill or crazy.

''What's happening to me, Doctor?'' Aeryn remembered asking.

She now remembered his name.

Doctor.

Healer.

The man who would take away his pain and save her from death.

''Doctor.'' Aeryn muttered.

''What?'' Crichton asked.

''Nothing.'' Aeryn said.

''She's been muttering that all day!'' Chiana said. ''What does it mean?''

The moon.

The creature.

''Listen to me.'' the Doctor said, raising his voice and using his hands to enforce his words. ''You have been infected with one of the creatures.''

Aeryn couldn't control her own reaction.

She could not control her fear.

''The creature is in your body. It is in your brain. Taking over every aspect of your physiology and mind leaving nothing but a vacuum of telepathic energy.''

''Telepathic energy?'' Aeryn asked.

The Doctor gazed at the stars for one moment as he tried to come up with the right words to explain it to her, so she could understand.

''Remember the psychic barriers?'' the Doctor said. ''You couldn't shoot the infected in the bar because of invisible shields. Barriers generated by a power source they all share.''

The bar.

The infected.

Everything slowly came back to Aeryn.

''This creature is not just a creature.'' the Doctor said. ''It's all of them. They are all controlled by one single entity. One mind controlling every single one of the infected.''

''A one man army.'' Aeryn said.

''Exactly.'' the Doctor said.

She gazed at their faces.

D'Argo.

Chiana.

Jool.

Rygel.

John.

All of them looked at her with an emotionless amazement, looking at her, wondering what she'd do next.

Faces of stone they were. Carved out of memories.

They smiled at Aeryn with a naive smile, almost believing themselves to be real.

But Aeryn saw right through them.

She saw right through everything.

She clung to her memories. To what was real and what not.

Like the Doctor said she should do.

Aeryn remembered looking deep into the Doctor's eyes.

His ancient eyes, full of rage and loss and determination.

''The creature will try to convince you into believing in this reality.'' the Doctor said. ''Don't let him. See past the illusion.''

Aeryn only gazed upon the orange nebula above her head as she closed her eyes.

One single tear dropped from her eyelid on to her cheek.

''Don't let this dream become a prison.'' the Doctor had said.

Aeryn stared into John's eyes.

His love for her seemed honest and true.

Aeryn could see his hopes and dreams written in his eyes.

His desire to find a home.

Or create one.

He stretched out his hand towards her.

''Aeryn?''

''I can't do this, Doctor.'' Aeryn said.

She was terrified.

She so eagerly wanted to take his hand, and let him embrace her once again.

She wanted to live in that dream so badly.

And pretend that she didn't watch him die before.

Pretend that she did not leave him.

''Don't let this dream become your prison, Aeryn.'' the Doctor said. ''Don't let the creature win. Cling to your hopes. Your will to live!''

''I can't Doctor!'' Aeryn cried.

''You are strong Aeryn!'' the Doctor yelled.

''Aeryn?'' Crichton asked.

''You don't know me!'' Aeryn yelled.

''Oh, yes I do!'' the Doctor said. ''You are Aeryn Sun. Strong, radiant, indestructible! You can do this! I know you can!''

''No...'' Aeryn cried.

Her arm moved for a moment, wishing to take Crichton's hand.

''Aeryn, you say that you're a soldier..." the Doctor said. "So act like one! Do as I say!''

Aeryn closed her eyes again, seeking courage inside. It would be so nice to follow orders again, to let others choose for her, so she doesn't have to. But she had learned much over the past years. She now knows the difference between right and wrong. She can choose for herself.

If only it were that easy.

''Choose life!'' the Doctor said.

Aeryn gazed doubtful, broken, into Crichton's eyes.

''What do I do?'' Aeryn asked.

The Doctor closed his mouth, forming a hint of a smile.

''Stand your ground.'' the Doctor said. ''Defend your mind with everything you've got.''

Aeryn nodded.

The tear fell off her chin, on to the ground.

''Aeryn?'' Crichton asked.

And Aeryn made her choice.

''You are not real.'' Aeryn finally said, pulling her hand away from Crichton's as she cleared up her mind and thoughts as she looked straight into his eyes.

''Nothing is real.'' she added.

Crichton lowered his hand.

''You shouldn't have said that.'' he said.

''Don't give up, Aeryn!'' the Doctor said.

An incredible pain shot through her spine, spreading through her body at an incredible rate.

''Doctor!'' Aeryn cried.

''DOCTOR!"

But her cries were left unanswered.

Just as she felt the pain spread to every single cell of her body, and she started to burn inside, the pain suddenly stopped.

Aeryn opened her eyes.

And there she was.

Standing in nothing.

A vast darkness, filled with nothing.

An empty void.

No floor, no ceiling, no walls, no ending.

The void went on for ever it seemed.

''You think you can defeat me.'' an incredible voice said.

The voice rumbled through everything and seemed to be everywhere.

''But I see right through you, as you see right through my illusions...''

FLASH

She was aboard Moya again.

''You are weak.'' D'Argo said to her, circling around her like a vulture, hunting its prey.

The creature spoke through him, like he did through Solem.

Aeryn recognised its speech pattern, but she could not look directly into the eyes of the old friends whose memories the creature misused...

''You are afraid.'' D'Argo said.

''You are insecure.'' Zhaan said.

''You are pessimistic.'' Jool said.

''You are naive.'' Chiana said.

''You are unintelligent.'' Rygel said.

''You are cold.'' Pilot said.

''You are hopeless.'' John said.

Different faces. Same voice.

FLASH

''Who is he, Aeryn?'' Gilina asked.

Aeryn returned in her mind to the Gammak Base.

She couldn't believe it herself.

It seemed so long ago.

It was so long ago.

''I know he's there. Helping you.''

''Who is?'' Aeryn said to Gilina.

FLASH

''The Doctor.'' Velorek said kind, with his hands behind his back.

FLASH

There she stood again.

In the wreckage of the Command Carrier, which was about to be destroyed, as it slowly imploded, crushing itself to bits thanks to Crichton's plan and Crais's sacrifice.

She didn't know why she was there.

She only knew that she was holding her gun in her hands again, looking down on a familiar sight.

An unpleasant memory.

''What's the matter, Aeryn?'' Henta said to her, slowly crawling up from the ground.

Aeryn's heart stopped beating.

Her face was exactly as she remembered it still.

Burned to a crisp and black as night, her scorched eyes showing her fiery fury.

''Aren't you going to give your old friend a hug?''

FLASH

Talyn chirped and buzzed.

Aeryn had almost forgotten how beautiful he was.

''You act so strong.'' Crais said to Aeryn. ''But I know who you really are...''

''Do you?'' Aeryn said.

''But you don't know this Doctor, Aeryn.'' Crais said. ''Why do you trust him so blindly? He will not save your life!''

FLASH

Beggars, murderers, pillagers and thieves surrounded her.

She was back on Valldon, gazing into the eyes of her dead mother.

''He will not save you, Aeryn.'' Xhalax said. ''The only one you could ever rely on was you! And no-one else!''

''Frell you!'' Aeryn cried.

FLASH

''But what do I know?'' a forgotten, weak and terrifying voice whispered in the desert.

Aeryn kneeled down into the sand, looking upon John.

The Crichton who died.

''You couldn't even save me, let alone yourself!'' he shouted.

Aeryn closed her eyes, feeling the warm glow of the sun on her face.

''Face it, Aeryn!'' Crichton yelled at her, crawling over the hill of sand towards her.

His face was pale.

His eyes blue.

''You can't win.''

Aeryn looked into the eyes of the hallucination, gazing at the green glow in its eyes.

''No.'' Aeryn said. ''I can't.''

FLASH

''It will use your own memories against you.'' she remembered the Doctor saying. ''Trauma's. Nightmares. Everything.''

The creature brought her back to the void.

The neverending abyss.

The gap between realities and hallucinations, where light and smoke were the same.

They were standing around her.

Crais, Henta, Xhalax and Crichton.

Their eyes glowed green as they strapped Aeryn into her uncomfortable chair. The chair she was once trapped in, descending into an icy death...

''No...'' Aeryn said.

''Don't give up, Aeryn.'' the Doctor's voice said in her mind.

Memories came back to her as the four demons of one tied her down in her seat.

''Stand your ground.'' the Doctor had said to her.

''The creature will attack your mind. Force you to believe in it. Using fear and pain as their weapons. All you have to do is hope.''

The creature strapped her down until she had nowhere to go.

But Aeryn only stared out into the void in front of her.

''He can't stop you thinking, Aeryn.'' the Doctor had said to her, standing under the glowing orange nebula in the terrace.

''He can't take you over completely.''

The four creatures gazed upon Aeryn, admiring their own work.

She was now trapped.

Trapped in her own private hell.

Of memories and pain. Of death and loss.

And no-one was going to rescue her now.

''But don't give up, Aeryn.'' the Doctor had said. ''Never give up.''

She couldn't move. She couldn't move.

''Remember my words.'' the Doctor said. ''Remember me.''

''Don't leave me!'' Aeryn had said.

''I must.'' the Doctor said to her softly, hating what he was about to do. What he had to do. ''For you must face your demons alone. I can't help you.''

The creatures left Aeryn, alone in the abyss. They looked upon her with their evil smiles before they abandoned her and started to walk slowly into the dark distance of the void.

But Aeryn did not give up.

She kept on gazing into the darkness.

Determined.

Strong.

Hopeful.

''I will leave, but do not be afraid.'' she remembered the Doctor saying. ''For I am right here.''

''Doctor...'' Aeryn said.

''I will return.'' the Doctor said. ''Trust me.''

The creatures screamed.

Xhalax, Crais, Henta and Crichton reached for their heads in pain.

Something was wrong.

The void seemed to spin, like a hurricane had been unleashed upon them.

A storm inside the darkness. A wind that was about to blow them all away, with Aeryn standing in the storm's eye.

The straps of her chair were loosened as the creature's powers faded.

And strange things seemed to emerge from the mist.

Nebulas.

Planets.  
Buildings.

Water and fire.

And metal men.

Impossible things.

And the void lit up brightly, pushing away the darkness.

And there it was.

Galaxies. Stars. Supernova's.

Civilizations. Cultures.

People.

All and everything twirled around their heads.

''Doctor!'' Aeryn cried.

A fleet of ships descending upon a blue planet.

A young girl surrounded in bright light, like fire within ice.

People standing in a street like statues.

Soldiers and guns.

Shattered glass on a floor.

A wall and a doorway.

A beach.

A single tear falling down a cheek.

''Doctor!''

Life and death.

All passed and all lingered.

All returned and all faded away.

The four creatures turned into one, its true form revealed, but shadow was cast over its appearance.

Its tentacles faded away into daylight as it screamed in pain.

''Doctor!'' Aeryn cried.

And it was gone.

Aeryn opened her eyes and felt two lips pressed against hers.

Two closed eyes almost touching hers.

So close.

Too close.

Aeryn pushed him away and gasped for air.

She longed for real air, but instead she inhaled smoke.

''Where the frell am I?'' Aeryn asked.

Everything was fire and ash.

Smoke was everywhere.

The entire room was being consumed by the flames and heat.

Only then did Aeryn realize that she had just been kissed.

She touched her own dry lips softly with her fingers.

''Doctor!'' Aeryn said. ''What happened? Where am I?''

But he said nothing as he was lying on the floor. Unconscious.

The inferno around them seemed to spread and spread.

''Doctor!'' Aeryn cried as she tried to get him up from the floor.

She cried in shock and fear as she saw the yellow tentacles sticking out of his mouth.

The Doctor coughed up slime as he woke up, trying to get up and speak, clutching to Aeryn's black, Peacekeeper jacket in an attempt to stop her.

The creature fell from his mouth, dead, but it took a while before the Doctor got his mouth empty of the slime and blood.

"I know…" the Doctor tried to say. "I know what he is."

Aeryn looked at him in fear, as flames surrounded them, and he kept pulling her towards him.

"Viridis Monasteriense!" The Doctor said to Aeryn.

She had no idea what he just said.


	8. The Promise

It all happened so fast.

"Doctor!" Aeryn yelled as she clung to his coat, feeling dizzy and disorientated by the prison inside her mind.

Flames rose higher, touching the ceiling as everything seemed to combust and turn to ash, all around them.

The Doctor was groaning, and he looked, although she didn't know it, just as pale as she was, and his eyes seemed to be popping out of their sockets as he gasped for breath, but instead inhaled black smoke.

She could barely stand, but the Doctor was still dragging her down as he grasped her leather vest within his skinny hands.

Aeryn looked down at the strange corpse of a small creature, its limbs were twitching as it lay on the burning floor.

The entire room was falling apart around them.

Aeryn had no idea where she was, but all she knew was that he had saved her.

The Doctor had saved her.

"The window…" the Doctor managed to say though his groans as he tried to get up.

The heat started to get to Aeryn as the flames reached out to her.

Her Sebacean weakness crept like poison across her spine, and she knew she had to get out of here.

She refused to be put in a delirium a second time, and let her fate be decided by others.

Aeryn brushed her fingers across her stomach, realising the Doctor had saved her, but not her unborn child.

It had been part of the illusion, the hallucination, the trick and the prison of her mind.

Now she found herself in another prison, made out of fire and smoke, and as rage build up inside her she suddenly knew what to do.

She drew her gun and fired upon the disintegrating and burning, brick wall.

The explosion blinded them as debris was flying around their heads.

"Get up!" she shouted at the Doctor and she grabbed his hand.

She had blasted a hole in the side of the building, revealing a way out into a dark alleyway below.

Flames rose higher as more oxygen was available to feed them and it scorched Aeryn's shoulder.

The Doctor was still coughing, gasping for breath as they stood at the edge of the hole, bathing in moonlight and breathing fresh air again, as they prepared to jump a long way down.

Both knew jumping could result in a lot of bruises and broken bones, then their eyes gazed upon the fire-escape attached to the building beside the bar.

''The fire-escape!'' the Doctor and Aeryn said together.

Aeryn forced her body to co-operate as she jumped to the other side, clinging to the old, cold, black metal bars of the fire-escape only barely.

She managed to climb on and get down.

The Doctor followed her, his long brown coat danced as he jumped to the other side, yelling in pain as he cradled the fire-escape which stopped him from falling down on to the dumpsters below.

It took him a while to get on to the fire-escape, dangling in the air as he tried to use his elbows to climb over the bars.

His white sneakers kicked into the air as he hung on that fire-escape for a full thirty seconds, before he quickly climbed down the staircase to follow Aeryn who was waiting silently in the shadows, gazing up at the Doctor, whose face was not touched by the ash as hers was.

''Not bad for an old man if I might say myself.'' He said, referring to the not so elegant jump on to the fire-escape.

He was still coughing as he landed on the ground and looked up one final time at the inferno they had just escaped.

Only now did Aeryn see how tall he was. How much taller he was than her.

And skinny.

His shoulders seemed to rise above her as he straightened his back.

He shrugged and stretched his shoulders, back and neck, and suddenly it seemed he had rid himself of all the worries in the universe and everything was okay, and they hadn't just escaped a fiery inferno created by a man possessed by some evil entity which tried to do the same to Aeryn.

He smiled at her as if it was all just one big joke, and they hadn't been in mortal danger at all.

It had all just been a bit of fun for the Doctor.

She hated him for it.

She hated the entity which imprisoned her inside her own mind, using her own nightmares and memories against her.

She wanted to grab her guns and burst back into that bar, guns blazing and slamming everyone to the ground to find the one responsible for all this madness.

She looked upon the Doctor again, who was void of anger or revenge, so righteous and sincere, yet she remembered how she herself looked upon him, wondering if he was the one behind it all.

Could he be?

No.

Aeryn saw the look on his face when Solem revealed his true identity, a creature far more dangerous and malevolent than she could have anticipated.

But the truth is, she didn't expect this at all.

It was the Doctor who saw the situation for what it was.

It was he who had pierced Solem's test, seen the threat for what it was, found the way out and warned them about opening that door.

And it was he who saved her life.

He terrified her.

And only now Aeryn realised she should've said thank you.

''Let's hope that fire will go out soon, before it spreads through the neighbourhood.'' the Doctor said.

''Maybe that's just what we need.'' Aeryn said. ''We could let the fire tear down the bar and its inhabitants altogether.''

The Doctor gazed at the fire again.

''We can't,'' he said, before turning to Aeryn with a passionate but fearful look in his eyes.

''They are all innocent, Aeryn.'' the Doctor said to her. ''All of them.

They don't control their own actions. They are controlled by the creature. You know this.''

''Then we have to stop it,'' Aeryn simply said.

The Doctor's eyes wandered to the street next to this dark alley-way, where many people seemed to roam the streets.

''I'm not sure if it will be that easy.'' he said.

They hid in the shadows as they looked around the corner.

The dark night was complete, and only the light of the moons now lit up the streets, revealing dozens of people marching down the street.

Their green eyes lit up in the dark.

''They are all infected,'' the Doctor said. ''All of them. But the creature won't stop there. He wants every single one. Every single mind must be added to his own.''

''Doctor?'' Aeryn asked.

''Every single living soul on this planet...''

''Asteroid...'' Aeryn corrected him.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, correcting himself.

''Asteroid,'' he said. ''…will soon be one of them, another mindless zombie.''

Aeryn gazed upon the people, the creatures, who were walking down the street.

If the Doctor had not saved her from the creature's illusions, she would have been just like them.

She would have been one of them.

''Why is it doing this?'' Aeryn asked. ''What does it want?''

The Doctor still gazed into the street.

''You know what it is, don't you?'' Aeryn said. ''You said something earlier. You said its name...''

''Viridis Monasterienses." the Doctor said.

''What does it mean?'' Aeryn asked.

''Its their name.'' the Doctor said. ''Of their species. Or at least how the ancient Greek used to call them.''

''What?'' Aeryn asked.

''Once in ancient Earth history there were Oracles,'' the Doctor started telling. ''Or at least people believed them to be Oracles, but in fact they were aliens, taking over humans who would act as their 'translators'. Their messengers. Some who did know, thought them to be gods. But they were no gods. They were Viridimon.''

Aeryn looked at the Doctor, and how he eagerly told his tale.

She looked into his ancient eyes, realising that he had just said the word: Earth.

So perhaps he was human...

''Viridimon are seekers of knowledge. Literally, their species are on a quest to know everything.''

Aeryn remembered Solem's words.

"So many questions still...'' he had said.

Now it all made sense...

''They were the most wisest and kindest creatures that ever lived,'' the Doctor went on, ''...until their kind was believed to be extinct many, many years ago.''

''Until now.'' Aeryn said.

''Until now.'' the Doctor repeated.

The infected people marched down the streets, with many more joining their march as they walked on.

Their steps were perfect.

Touching the ground in perfect rhythm.

Hundreds of people.

One mind.

''You said that they were kind creatures...'' Aeryn said. ''But this one tried to kill us...''

''A Viridimon is born with no knowledge whatsoever, like every creature in the universe.'' the Doctor said. ''But when it first touches another living being's mind, the Viridimon is immediately imprinted with that person's thoughts. Dreams. Memories.

Learning everything. Absorbing everything.''

Aeryn saw how the infected people marched in unison.

Almost as if they had been doing it for their entire lives.

''The first victim...'' Aeryn said.

''...was a Peacekeeper.'' the Doctor finished.

* * *

The bartender coughed, realising that he was once again breathing fresh air.  
Real air.

''Aureya...'' he cried.

How badly he wanted to stay in that dream...the dream where his wife was still alive.

''Are you all right?'' Solem asked.

The bartender looked up.

He was back in the cellar.

But he felt as if he had run for miles.

His body was sweating like crazy, and he was insanely hungry, and weak.

His body was trembling, and it trembled even more when he looked upon the ground, seeing the yellow creature crawl out of the blood and slime, back to the Viridimon itself.

''What happened?'' the bartender asked. ''What did you do to me?''

''I took over your mind.'' Solem said, walking around the bartender in the dark who was still sitting on his knees, with his mouth covered with drool.

''You were my tool. To be used to infect more. The beginnings and foundations of my army...''

''Army?'' the bartender said. ''What army?''

''The one I created. The one I recruited. The one which is mine. The one who I am.''

''Army...'' the bartender repeated.

''But I have spared you...'' Solem said.

''Why...why would you spare me?'' the bartender said.

''You should be thankful.'' Solem said. ''You should be thanking me for releasing you...''

But the bartender wasn't pleased.

He just had the best dream of his life.

The best life he could ever have dreamed of.

His wife. The casino. More money than he could ever have imagined.

''It was all fake.'' Solem said. ''Just an illusion...''

''An illusion?'' the bartender asked.

''And I released you...'' Solem went on. ''A simple sign to show my gratitude towards you...''

''Gratitude?''

The Viridimon grew tired of the bartender's stupidity.

Solem stopped talking and he started talking through his real mouth.

''You cared for me. Like a father.'' the Viridimon said.

His voice rumbled through the building.

The giant creature was sitting out of sight, in the shadows.

Unseen, and unheard as the Viridimon spoke through Solem again.

''You fed me.'' he said. ''You even once read me a bedtime story.''

The bartender swallowed.

''You loved me...'' Solem said.

The bartender looked up at Solem, confused to hear those words come from his mouth.

''And I want to repay you...'' Solem went on.

''...by making every one of your dreams come true...''

The bartender smiled slightly, but began to smile.

''What's the matter?'' Solem asked.

The bartender kept on crying, until he finally lifted his head to talk again.

''My wife...'' he said. ''She's dead...''

He remembered how devastated he was when she died.

''And so therefore you cannot make all my dreams come true.'' the bartender added. ''You cannot ressurect her from the dead!''

Solem smiled.

''I can't.'' he said. ''But I know someone who can...''

* * *

The Doctor and Aeryn lingered in the shadows of the alley-way for some time, waiting for the appropriate time to leave without being seen.  
They looked through the hole in the wall how the Viridimon's zombies put out the fire with water.

The army was quite effective in smuthering the flames, although the storage-room was too far gone and destroyed to be saved entirely.

''Come on.'' the Doctor said, deciding to leave the shadows of the alley-way.

''Doctor...'' Aeryn tried to say, but he had already left and was urging Aeryn to follow.

''The bar was where it all began.'' the Doctor said. ''So we are safe to assume that the Viridimon is there.''

He walked into the main street.

The two moons shined on him, purple and blue.

''Doctor...'' Aeryn said.

The Doctor was lost in thoughts as he gazed in front of him, walking on, not hearing her cries.

''Doctor!''

''Yes?'' the Doctor said, suddenly turning around as he scratched his ear.

Aeryn grabbed his hand and pulled him back into the shadows.

''No point in hiding, Aeryn,'' the Doctor said. ''It already knows we're still alive. It already knows where we are!''

''Doctor...'' Aeryn said.

''What?'' he replied.

Aeryn hesitated.

''Thank you.'' she finally said.

For a moment the Doctor was left speechless, and mostly flattered.

He was still scratching his ear though.

''Oh...'' he said, after a short pause.

''No problem.''

He smiled.

''My pleasure.'' he added. ''Although it shouldn't really be me who you should be thanking...''

''What?'' Aeryn said.

''Solem infected you.'' the Doctor said. ''Not me.''

Aeryn didn't understand.

''If he had infected me, than we'd be marching along with the other infected people right now.''

''What do you mean?'' Aeryn said.

''Solem helped us.'' the Doctor said. ''He didn't shoot us! He shot the cabinets! And it would have been so easy to shoot us!''

''And it was impossible to miss us.'' Aeryn said.

''Exactly!'' the Doctor replied.

''He helped us. And I think he still is helping us.'' the Doctor said. ''His wisdom is inspiring the Viridimon to do the right thing! Still acting like a Peacekeeper though, but its one step closer into the right direction!''

''Doctor...'' Aeryn asked.

''What?'' he replied.

''I could have been one of them, if you had not helped me. I could have been one of them. Imprisoned in an illusion. Imprisoned in my memories…."

''Honestly, Aeryn… "the Doctor said. "…you don't have to thank me...''

''Doctor...'' Aeryn said. ''All these people...all these infected people...can you save them too? Can you?''

The Doctor smiled.

''I can.'' he said.

''I definitely can. And I will...''

His wide smile and big eyes got bigger and bigger.

''YOU JUST WATCH ME!''


	9. The Streets

Solem closed his eyes, after escorting the frightened and confused bartender to a secure, safe area.

''Don't worry.'' Solem said to him, with his eyes still closed. ''There is nothing to fear.''

Its green eyes were still visible, shining through his eyelids.

The Viridimon's true body emerged from the shadows as it started to encompass the ceiling.

Dust started to fall on to the floor as the ceiling started to crack.

The large, fat green tentacles pushed and pushed against the ceiling, until it rested upon the Viridimon's shoulders.

''What are you doing?'' the bartender cried. ''You're destroying my bar!''

''It isn't your bar anymore, Louic.'' The possessed Peacekeeper said to the bartender. ''It's ours now. And I making an adjustment.''

''An adjustment?'' Louic asked.

Solem opened his eyes, sweating as if he felt the weight of the building resting upon his own shoulders.

''For all of the years I have lived here, under your care...I have never seen the sky.'' he said, gazing up at the ceiling the monster was destroying, his other self, his true self, was crushing with his powerful tentacles.

''I see the memories of others, I see the views of others, I have seen the sky through the eyes of so many others now, but it isn't the same.''

The Viridimon crushed the heavy plate within its tentacles, letting it fall upon the floor first, before pushing it together and crushing it into tiny, black debris and powder.

"I want to see it," Solem and the Viridimon spoke simultaneously at exactly the same time, with exactly the same voice.

Louic coughed as he looked upon the destruction in sadness, seeing the creature pound another layer of the building, and another.

Until rays of moonlight finally found its way through the cracks and shined upon the Viridimon's face.

Louic gazed at Solem's face, who was smiling in awe at the incredible sight of the nocturnal sky, the eternal void of space and beyond, the night and the two moons.

''It's beautiful.'' he whispered as the monster's big, orange eye froze.. ''It's everlasting, dangerous, frightening and fascinating...too much to comprehend...yet so simple...''

Louic was startled by the slow motion of Solem's arm, as he pointed above him at the tiny lights in the sky.

''Tell me, Louic,'' Solem asked. ''What are they?''

Louic saw how the monster's large orange eye gazed above into the night sky, and he did the same.

He swallowed seeing the destruction of his bar, before he refocused his eyes and saw the sky.

''They are stars.'' Louic said with difficulty, not understanding why the creature was so fascinated by such a simple thing.

''Stars...'' the creature now said with its own lips, and Solem closed his eyes.

Louic could still see the faint light of his green eyes beneath his eyelids, forever gleaming as the creature's grip on Solem's mind grew stronger.

''Stars...'' it repeated, gazing with its one orange eye at the dark sky.

* * *

''It's going to rain soon,'' the Doctor whispered.

Aeryn felt nothing but a haze of cold wind as she gazed out on to the dark streets, into the silent, dark and abandoned market-place.

But she knew the Doctor was right.

She could smell the scent of rain in the air, coming towards them as dark clouds began to cover the horizon.

''Stay in the shadows.'' the Doctor suddenly said. ''Don't let them see you.''

Aeryn did not need that advice.

They seemed to be everywhere, this dark army of people infected by the Viridimon.

This extension of the creature's mind.

''They are coming...don't let them see you...''

''He won't see me.'' Aeryn replied.

The Doctor looked straight into her eyes with his righteous, dark eyes.

''They won't.'' Aeryn added.

* * *

''Where are you, Doctor?'' Solem said, prancing around the dance floor nervously as his growing mind was elsewhere, distracted and busy.

''Who is this Doctor?'' Louic asked.

He had been nervous and hesitant to speak to the man who used to be a small creature he kept in his basement, but it had faded swiftly as he realized his survival was at stake.

''You've been going on and on about this man. Who is he?''

Solem gazed at the sky like the Viridimon, before curiously looking at Louic.

''I don't know.'' Solem said. ''He is a mystery.''

His eyes seemed full of excitement and admiration, and at that point he seemed like an eager child confessing his passions to his parents, hoping they would feel the same.

It made Louic feel uncomfortable.

He had once read bedtime stories to that strange, little creature he kept in his basement as a pet, but he had never expected it to talk back.

Not like this.

''I have only seen a glimpse of his might, of his intellect and wisdom and knowledge...but it is enough for me to like it...''

Louic feared the next look in Solem's eyes, as it lit up bright green, burning Louic's eyes as Solem looked right in them, forcing him to look away.

''I've tasted it...'' Solem said, almost whispering as he looked at Louic, speaking with a low, incredible rumble in the back of his throat.

''...and now I want more...''

Now all of a sudden Louic began to wonder if this Doctor would be the key to his freedom...

* * *

They ran through the shadows as slowly the ground beneath their feet started to tremble.

Aeryn's instincts were rattling her senses and she had to control herself from reaching for her useless pulse-pistol, which had no effect on the Viridimon's shielded soldiers.

The Doctor's glasses reflected the pale moonlight as wind blew across his face, messing up his hair.

He stuck his head around the corner and into the street, before he quickly grabbed his glasses and put them back into his coat pocket.

''We need a plan, Doctor.'' Aeryn said as the wind was blowing through the gloomy streets.

The Doctor glanced at the houses around him before he replied.

''I already have a plan.'' he said casually, looking down the street still, before he turned his head to face her.

"You do?'' Aeryn asked.

''Of course I have,'' the Doctor replied. ''Don't you?''

Their thoughts and conversation was cut off by more scream, but no longer distant.

The Viridimon's infection had spread through the settlement faster than they could have anticipated.

Aircraft were flying across their heads, fleeing the upcoming devastation and the march of a thousand possessed souls.

"It's spreading," Aeryn said.

"Let's go," the Doctor said as he listened to the explosions and screams in the distance.

Gunfire pierced the night as the sound of battle drums grew louder and louder.

But it wasn't drums.

It was the sound of hundreds of men, women and children marching in unison.

Their footfalls were the rattling sound of a perfect war-machine.

"Now!" the Doctor shouted.

They ran through the chaos as the settlement's surviving population fled their homes, dropping everything they held dear even as they carried and dragged it through the dark streets.

A crowd of panicking civilians ran through the streets and almost knocked the Doctor and Aeryn over if they hadn't avoided them.

Every home was abandoned as the soldiers marched on.

Everyone shouted at their loved ones to hurry up as the sweat burned in their skin.

"Aeryn!" the Doctor shouted through the chaos of bodies running past them.

All of them were running away from their homes as footfalls drew in closer, dark silhouettes in the moonlight glaring green eyes upon their victims.

The Doctor and Aeryn backed away from the approaching force who howled at the night.

The Doctor helped a man back on his feet when he tripped and fell on to the stones, and he continued fleeing without thanking the kind stranger.

"Run!" the Doctor yelled.

Platoon after platoon marched into the town, spreading the monster's mind across the asteroid, leaving no-one behind to resist its grasp.

Aeryn could now only see glimpses of the Doctor's long, brown coat as he moved with the flow of the crowd of survivors, running into the night as the purple moon gazed down upon them.

Suddenly soldiers appeared out of nowhere, dressed in red uniforms and wearing black visors as they aimed their weapons at the approaching darkness, and the green eyes which pierced through it, infecting as many they could possibly touch.

"Everybody get down!" their leader cried, and the Doctor panicked.

"NO!" he cried, but it was already too late as everyone dropped to the floor.

Red lasers shot from the end of the soldiers' weapons, across the heads of the fleeing survivors.

Aeryn saw how the red fire recoiled and bounced off their telepathic shielding, killing innocent bystanders and destroying parts of the buildings around them as it was reflected towards them.

The survivors ran behind the soldiers, thinking they could protect them, but now the soldiers too panicked seeing their shots had no effect on the attackers.

"Don't shoot!" the Doctor yelled.

Aeryn finally caught up with the Doctor as he rushed towards the man in charge of the town watch.

"We have to kill them!" their leader cried. "There is no other way! Fire!"

The Doctor swiftly turned around to see the soldiers fire upon the infected people once more, then he ducked again when the red lasers recoiled upon a white, yet invisible shield.

"What is this evil?" one soldier cried as he took off his helmet.

Slowly the poison struck from within, turning their betrothed and beloved, their trusted and appointed, their friends and blood, into their worst enemy and impossible nightmare.

"Don't kill them! They're innocent!" the Doctor yelled at their leader.

"Who the frell are you?"

For one split second the Doctor hesitated.

"Doesn't matter!" he yelled. "If you don't stop this now we'll all end up dead!"

"What is your name?" Aeryn asked abruptly, surprising the Doctor for a brief moment.

"I'm Hagros," the man answered.

The Viridimon's soldiers marched forever, slowly, but unstoppable through the dark streets of the settlement, slowly surrounding this last group of survivors.

"Well, listen to him, Hagros!" Aeryn said, supporting the Doctor as she glanced at the marching soldiers. "We've got to get out of here before we all end up like them! They'll infect us. It will turn us into one of them!"

"It? Hagros asked.

"There's something out there, controlling this," the Doctor explained. "Something is out there pulling all the strings and I know what it is!"

"We know how to defeat it!" Aeryn lied. "But we can't do anything if we're dead!"

"We can't run," Hagros spoke. "Whatever it is, the first thing it did was cut off all roads to the spaceport and infect everyone in the area. Everyone who could've fled has done just that."

"We can't run, so we hide," the Doctor spoke.

"Where?" Hagros asked.

"Think," the Doctor spoke. "There must be somewhere where we can evade them. All of us."

"I know a place," he spoke.

"Good!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"But there's no way we can get there without being followed." Hagros added.

"I can fix that," Aeryn spoke and she plucked a few grenades from the soldier who stood nearest to her.

She pulled out the pin and threw it in those final yards between them and the soldiers.

Immediately smoke began pouring out of the grenades, removing the soldiers from their sight.

The Doctor gleamed at Aeryn proudly before he too was beginning to fade away in the veil of smoke.

"Follow me!" Hagros shouted.

Green eyes followed them as they ran through the streets, and Aeryn quickly realized something was running alongside with them, picking out the stragglers and slow runners, the wounded and the old and all those that fell too far back.

"Run!" the Doctor yelled as he ran beside Aeryn.

They soon abandoned the smokescreen and followed Hagros through dark alley-ways and streets, avoiding the moonlight at all times.

He even forced a door open so that they could all move through one house to reach the next street.

They seemed to run forever from the green eyes, until Hagros suddenly spoke.

"It's two blocks from here!" Hagros said. "We have to move quick and silent to make sure they don't follow us! If they see us everything has been for nothing!"

Aeryn saw how the others struggled with bad condition and fear as sweat glistened on their faces.

They were all gasping for breath and clutching their sides, and Aeryn realized they could not withstand this pace much longer.

"If they see us," Aeryn spoke. "We're dead."

They didn't.

It was the Doctor's idea to disable the street lights so they could use the cover of darkness to retreat to Hagros's safe house, or whatever he had in mind, but it didn't turn out to be what Aeryn had expected.

They all entered the house of a seemingly sweet old couple, who offered their house as a sanctuary and fortress for those in trouble.

It was neither of those options, and only a fragile house with weak spots and tactical improbabilities, as Aeryn noted.

"If we all remain absolutely quiet," Hagros said. "They'll never suspect we're here."

"Finally the needle in the haystack works to our advantage," the Doctor noted amused as he entered the dark house.

"Who are you?" Hagros asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor spoke proudly. "And this is Aeryn Sun."

Aeryn wiped the sweat off her forehead and tried to smile politely at Hagros, but she failed miserably without intending to.

"You're Peacekeepers?" Hagros spoke.

"I don't know about her, but I'm definitely a keeper of the peace. You?"

Aeryn narrowed her eyes as she looked at the Doctor.

"That's not what I meant," Hagros said. "Doctor...?"

"Just... the Doctor," the Doctor said. "How many survivors are there in here?"

"My men are counting," Hagros spoke.

"D'you think there are more out there?" Aeryn asked.

"More survivors?" Hagros asked. "Maybe. I don't know, but I fear we are the last."

There were at least more than thirty people searching for a place to sit inside this dark house.

Hagros rubbed his brow.

"And if there are others," he spoke sadly. "I wouldn't know how to reach them."

The Doctor's interest seemed to be suddenly spiked by a strange machine in the corner of the room.

It had been gathering dust over the years, which the Doctor subtly blew away with a gust of wind from his breath.

''You won't be able to defend this place.'' Aeryn said to Hagros, shaking her head.

The Doctor put on his glasses as he analyzed the black, square machine, which was somewhat the size of his chest.

''We won't stay here.'' Hagros spoke.

"So _what _are you, Hagros?" the Doctor asked. "Military? Town watch? Leader? Mayor? Dominar or Regent?"

"I am," he spoke, before correcting himself. "_or at least I was_ one of the five members of this settlement's community council. Now, as far as I know, I'm the last one."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said with a mysterious, sad look in his eyes Aeryn could not decipher.

"Leading the town watch into battle was a desperate act, I must admit," Hagros spoke. "But with all options depleted I saw no other way to defend my people."

The Doctor seemed angry, but hesitant, nodding subtly as to approve Hagros's actions, but his mind was thinking something else.

"So you would've killed them all if you had the chance?" Aeryn asked. "All of the infected? Those innocent people?"

"He had no other choice," the Doctor whispered to her.

Aeryn turned around.

The Doctor's glasses reflected the pale light that originated from a small lantern held by Ferril, the owner of the house who approached them through the crowd of people in the large house.

''You don't have green eyes.'' Ferril said, pointing at the Doctor and Aeryn. ''You don't grunt and moan like the rest of those mindless grunts...''

''You have a keen eye.'' the Doctor said, looking at the third eye on his forehead. ''We're allies.''

''And I should just take your word for it?'' the big man with the huge shoulders said.

He was small, but as big as a house.

''Who are these people, Ferril?'' a woman asked who came into the living room wearing her long white night gown.

She seemed absent and light-headed as she gazed outside the windows, which were being baricaded by various men.

''They are friends, Deborah.'' Ferril said, still holding the lantern and gun in his hands. ''Although I'm still not sure about these folks.'

''Lower your weapon.'' Aeryn said, revealing her own weapon as she swiftly pointed it at Ferril.

Her eyes were cold.

''What the frell?'' Ferril said. ''I wasn't even doing anything!''

''Lower your weapon!'' Aeryn cried.

Hagros stood next to the Doctor. Both wished an ending to this conflict.

''Lower your weapons.'' Hagros said. ''Both of you.''

''Slowly.'' the Doctor added.

Ferril looked in anger and fear at Aeryn and her gun.

''Frelling Peacekeepers.'' he said.

''What did you say?'' Aeryn replied.

''Nothing...'' Ferril said.

''What the frell did you just say?!'' Aeryn repeated, clenching her weapon still, pointing it between Ferril's eyes.

''Aeryn!'' the Doctor said. ''Just lower your weapon! And stop saying frell all the time.''

''What?'' Aeryn asked, brought out of concentration. ''Why?''

''Because it sounds ridiculous.'' the Doctor replied.

''Quiet!'' Hagros cried. ''Do you hear that?''

The Doctor quickly grabbed Ferril's lantern from his hands and put it out.

In the sudden darkness, both Aeryn and Ferril lowered their weapons.

The Doctor touched Aeryn's shoulder as they both gazed out the cracks of the windows.

''Do they know we're here?'' a young kid asked. ''Do they know?''

Hagros urged for silence.

The soldiers marched by the house in a moment which felt like an hour.

As they left, the Doctor put the light back on again, and put the lantern down on the table.

''What's going on out there?'' Deborah asked.

Her voice was clean and nice.

Gentle and kind.

As if she was unaware of the threat that was outside.

''Quiet Deborah.'' Ferril said.

He glanced at the Doctor and Aeryn as he clutched Deborah's shoulder softly.

"I don't trust those strangers…" he said to her.

''Is there a parade going on?'' Deborah went on as she tried to glance outside. ''Ooh, I love parades.''

The Doctor looked strangely at the old woman in the white night gown as he turned around, only to bump into an familiar face.

''You were the one in the bar, weren't you?'' the kid asked.

He seemed much younger than he actually was.

''You!'' the Doctor said. ''You were the kid Mairic threatened to execute! In the test!''

''Great performance, wasn't it?'' the kid said. ''I gave the entire test away, that's how bad I was.''

''But how did you escape?'' the Doctor asked, almost ignoring his words.

''I ran.'' the kid answered with fear in his eyes. ''I ran so fast and so long I forgot I was running...I left them...I ran...''

''You were frightened.'' the Doctor said. ''There's no shame in being afraid.''

''But I ran...''

''The one who runs away will live to fight another day...'' the Doctor quoted. ''Come on! Let me show you something!''

He looked around, looking for Aeryn, but she wasn't there.

''Aeryn?''

--

''It's the eyes I fear the most.'' Hagros said.

''Mindless. Empty. Always burning, like their insides are burning in an eternal green fire.''

''It's cold in here.'' Deborah muttered, putting her arms around her as she walked around in circles in the room.

''Why is it so cold?''

Aeryn passed them as the Doctor started talking to someone. She walked towards the other end of the house, where scared and frightened women looked at her with big eyes, wondering if she was going to harm them or say something.

But Aeryn said nothing and turned her back to the women.

And that's where she saw the two children, curled up against each other in the corner.

They tried to run away from Aeryn, but Aeryn swiftly grabbed their hands and pulled the children towards her.

She noticed there was something strange about this frightened kids.

She tugged them closer towards her by their clothing so she could see.

Then she saw their blue, bruised eyes, bloody mouths and the fearful looks in their eyes as they pulled their curled, beaten and painful hands away in fright.

''Who did this to you?'' Aeryn tried to ask, but the children ran away as the cloth slipped through her fingers.

''What are you doing?'' Ferril shouted. ''Leave my children alone!''

''Don't yell at me!'' Aeryn said.

Tough as a nail. Hurt and vengeful.

The women who saw Aeryn now feared her even more.

''Were they your children?'' Aeryn asked.

''This is my house,'' Ferril said. ''I don't have to answer to you. Peacekeeper scum!''

''Do you like to beat your children?'' Aeryn replied. ''Does that make you feel better?''

Ferril growled as he bit his lip.

''You frelling Peacekeeper!'' Ferril cried. ''Always poking into other people's business! I do what I want to do! I treat my children like I want to treat my children! They're mine!''

''Aeryn!'' the Doctor said, bursting in on the two of them.

''Get out of my sight!'' Ferril said. ''Before I do something!''

''Do what?!'' Aeryn cried, not intimidated by the fat man's threats. ''Do WHAT!?''

The old man looked at her with a disgruntled anger only someone like him could pull off as the Doctor dragged Aeryn away.

"Don't, Aeryn," he said to her, as he escorted her past people and towards a strange machine standing in the corner of the living room, next to a dirty, dusty pink old sofa. "He doesn't deserve it."

The kid the Doctor had been talking to was looking from the machine to the Doctor and back again in confusion.

''Did you see that?'' Aeryn said. ''Did you see those children? Did you see what he did to them?''

''Yes, I did.'' the Doctor said.

''You're lying!!'' Aeryn cried. ''You didn't even look at them once!''

''Aeryn,'' the Doctor whispered to her with a kind, but demanding look.

Aeryn's anger now spread to the Doctor.

He must've seen what she had seen, yet he did nothing to punish Ferril.

At a time like this, of course their priorities had changed, but to ignore the children's pains so bluntly…

Aeryn did not understand.

'You remember that plan I told you about...'' the Doctor asked.

''Yes.'' Aeryn said, without looking at him.

''Well...'' the Doctor said as he guided her towards a square, black device on a table in the corner of the room.

Aeryn looked at the machine she stood in front of.

It wasn't important.

Or special.

It was a mundane device.

Something everyone probably had in their homes.

Anyone who could afford it.

''Is this it?'' Aeryn asked. ''A radio?''

An old, ancient device they used to have around to play music.

''On its own, it might not look impressive.'' the Doctor said. ''But...''

He walked to the window and removed a plank from their sight so that they could see.

''Combine this radio...with that tower...''

He pointed into the distance at a radio-tower not far from them.

Aeryn looked at the tower, still not quite getting what he was trying to say.

''...and with this little cassette in my hand...''

The Doctor lowered his hand into his pocket and showed them the disc.

''...and this cassette-player...''

He showed them the player: an old-fashioned gizmo, which was bigger than his hand.

The Doctor waited.

''Anything?'' the Doctor asked. ''Anything at all?''

Still nothing. Aeryn was still clueless.

''Tell me Doctor.'' he said.

The kid stood behind Aeryn, also anxious to know the answer to this riddle.

''The only thing which can effectively penetrate a telepathic field.'' the Doctor started to explain. ''The one thing that can break the Viridimon's psychic defenses...''

He waited again.

His smile started to grow and grow.

''...music?'' the kid said.

''Music.'' the Doctor answered with joy.


	10. The Plan

''This idea is bad.'' said Aeryn. ''Very, very, very bad.''

''Oh, don't say that.'' said the Doctor.

The kid smiled.

''I've had to listen to a lot of awful plans,'' said Aeryn. ''and yours Doctor is quite possibly the worst plan I've ever heard in the history of planmaking.''

''So you do have a sense of humour!'' smiled the Doctor.

''I'm not joking.'' said Aeryn.

''Oh.'' said the Doctor, his smile faded away again, and his hopes to impress Aeryn with it.

Aeryn was still angry with the Doctor for not helping her confront Ferril, but somehow that anger faded away as suddenly she found herself quite amused with the fact that she had left the Doctor speechless. It turned out to be quite fun to annoy the Doctor in return, as he can be quite annoying too. With his unsurpassed optimism, huge smile and big feet.

And his blue outfit which just clashed with everything around him: all the colours in this place seemed to reject the blue colour of his striped suit and his purple tie, making the Doctor seem more out of place than before.

''Why can't we just use the bar's radio-system to broadcast the music on?'' asked the kid. ''Wouldn't that be much simpler?''

''Aha!'' said the Doctor pointing at the kid. ''Someone's interested in my awful plan!''

He smiled and kept looking at Aeryn with an annoying grin.

''See? See? I've got someone interested, so clearly my plan isn't that awful as it may sound to you!''

''Fine, Doctor.'' said Aeryn. ''Whatever you say.''

''No,'' said the Doctor. ''It's whatever he said! What did you say again?''

The kid was just going to say it but then the Doctor interrupted him again.

''Oh, I remember...the bar...!''

He immediately switched from a hysterical loud voice to a low, soft mysterious voice.

''That place is probably guarded,'' he went on. ''an impenetrable fortress for those who want to get in uninfected.''

''Which is us.'' said the kid.

''Precisely.'' said the Doctor. ''What is your name again?''

''Diolan.'' said the kid.

''Nice to meet you, Diolan,'' said the Doctor. ''Now...''

''Be quiet!'' someone said. ''Something's coming!''

The Doctor was caught in the middle of a sentence as the lights went out and all sat down in silence in the dark.

Silently the Doctor removed the plank in front of him and slowly moved towards the window to look outside.

''What do you see, Doctor?'' asked Diolan, crouching behind the pink sofa.

The Doctor's gaze lingered on Deborah, seeming to float around in her white gown as she walked around the busy living room not realising the threat that marched outside.

''Doctor?'' asked Diolan again.

For a moment Aeryn thought it was just another march of the infected people the Doctor was seeing, but then the look on the Doctor's face changed radically, until the Doctor was just as pale as the moonlight which shined on his face.

''Doctor?'' asked Aeryn.

''What do you see?'' asked Diolan.

Aeryn stood up and joined the Doctor near the window, curious to see what made the Doctor turn deadly silent.

And there it was.

The infected men and women seemed to carry some kind of large box through the streets. And whenever either moonlight or streetlight fell upon the box it showed a bright blue colour; the same shade of blue the Doctor was wearing.

But what was it about this large, wooden blue box which made the Doctor so afraid?

''What is it, Doctor?'' asked Aeryn.

The Doctor's eyes never once looked away from the box.

''It's my ship.'' said the Doctor. ''He's taken my ship.''

''His ship?'' wondered Aeryn. ''Was that his ship? But how could one possibly travel in such a thing? Such a small craft...''

But somehow the box seemed to fit the Doctor.

The Doctor, and the mysterious aura of weirdness which lingered around him.

''We must talk to Hagros.'' said the Doctor suddenly. ''Now.''

The Doctor explained his plan to Hagros and his men in the darkness, as they waited for the infected people to walk past them, but it took them longer as the Doctor's ship was too heavy to carry around swiftly; it took time to move it around.

Yet none of the infected seemed to be troubled by the weight of the craft, Aeryn noticed.

It was like they were numbed, and they did not feel any pain, or weight, or emotion.

One single mind controlled their actions now: the Viridimon, which the Doctor planned to defeat, simply with music.

''Music?'' said Hagros in great disbelief.

''The Viridimon is a plant-like creature.'' said the Doctor. ''An ancient creature with astonishing mental capabilities. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can penetrate the Viridimon's psychic field. No pulse-fire. No sword. No rock. No water. No fire. But it can be harmed. We must only focus on the Viridimon's senses!''

''So you want to attack the Viridimon's ears with music?'' asked Hagros. ''And what kind of music did you have in mind?''

''Well, I was still choosing between the Arctic Monkeys or Muse, or even the Smiths, but that's not the point.'' said the Doctor, losing his strain of thought for a short time there.

''We have to attack the Viridimon's senses; not those of the infected, that would have no effect. We need to focus on the Viridimon, place radios all around the bar, as close as we can get. And then I tune into the radiostation, choose a specific frequency and play the music. And all we have to do then is bring the volume all the way up. We must make sure the Viridimon is distracted. We must make the Viridimon unable to think. And that's when we can strike.''

The Doctor's determination and strength radiated out of him, as if he had already done this. As if he could see the plan unfold in front of his very eyes.

''That is when his connection to the infected people is severed.'' said the Doctor. ''That is how they can be free again.''

The infected people still pushed and carried the Doctor's box through the wet streets, like slaves carrying a king.

Aeryn wondered why they seemed to treat that box with so much respect. Why they seemed to worship every single inch of the box and would do anything to keep it clean and out of harm's way. And why would they bother anyway to capture the Doctor's ship? Why not her Prowler, which was still standing on the landing deck stationed not far away from them?

''But I can't do this alone.'' said the Doctor. ''I need your help, Hagros.''

KLANG!

Something had fallen. Something fragile, probably glass.

It had come down with an incredible sound as it touched the floor and shattered into many pieces. And the sound seemed to come from above them.

''Those frelling...!'' yelled Ferril as he sprang to his feet and hurried into the hallway and up the stairs.

Rage boiled inside Aeryn as she heard how Ferril violently punished his children for breaking something which was probably very valuable or expensive. Everyone could hear Ferril shout through the very thin floors and walls.

''No...'' said the Doctor slowly, gazing at the door. ''No, no...NO!!''

One insanely loud pound on the barricaded front door seemed to tremble the foundations of the entire building and sent shivers down everyone's spines.

''They know we're here!'' cried Aeryn.

''RUN!'' yelled the Doctor.

But where?

The infected people had lowered the blue box on to the ground and started to make their way to the building. All 50 of them.

''Hagros!'' said the Doctor. ''How do we get out?!''

Everyone started to scream and panick in the darkness as they tried to find a way out. All except for Aeryn who ignored her instincts which told her to grab her weapon and instead she tried to help the Doctor maintain order in the sudden chaos.

And the chaos reached a boiling point as the frightened survivors discovered all entrances and exits were barred and barricaded. They were stuck inside, with no way out.

''Hagros!'' yelled the Doctor.

The Doctor yelled with a fury hidden under his calm voice, which urged Hagros to think. ''Think!'' the Doctor cried.

Aeryn remembered how Hagros said they wouldn't stay here very long. He must have been preparing to leave.

Diolan stood beside Aeryn, not knowing what else to do than to stick with her and the Doctor. Hagros came to his senses.

''We can't use the back door.'' said Hagros. ''They'll have this place surrounded in no time whatsoever.''

''Than think of something we can do!'' yelled Aeryn.

Arms tried to push Aeryn out of their way, looking for a way out.

Aeryn pushed back.

The glass of the windows was breaking and the front door was shaking.

The wooden boards which covered them were easily ripped apart, as if those heavy boards were nothing but a insignificant branch which could be snapped easily.

Arms were reaching out to the people inside, wishing to grab and infect them.

''Hagros!'' yelled the Doctor.

''In here!'' said Hagros, getting down to his knees, pushing away the sofa and pulling away the red carpet under their feet, revealing a heavy wooden hatch right below them.

''Every house has one of these.'' said Hagros, knocking faintly on the hatch with his knuckles. ''Although they don't always know about it. They lead into a system of caverns going deep inside the centre of the asteroid. Our ancestors used to hide there from the Scarrans when they first tried to attack.''

''Well, what are you waiting for?'' said the Doctor. ''Open it!''

''I must warn you Doctor...the caverns are unsafe.'' said Hagros. ''Many fear the caverns for there are many stories about what lies down there, Doctor. Terrible tales of monsters...''

''I doubt that those monsters would be any more frightening than the monsters we are facing right now!!'' said the Doctor. ''We must get all of these people into the hatch, to safety! Come on!''

The Doctor opened the hatch and ordered everyone to get in.

The frightened families ran to enter the hatch.

Aeryn held out her lantern and aimed its light at the cavern below, revealing an ancient ladder carved into the wall of the rock, leading into a seemingly endless darkness below.

A small infected child had managed to break through the glass and climbed through the window, falling upon red carpet with a faint bang.

It crawled up and staggered towards them, wearing a dirty, white nightgown which was too large for the small girl.

''Aeryn!'' cried the Doctor, aiming his sonic screwdriver at the infected child.

It seemed to moan something, something which sounded creepily like ''Doctor''.

The child opened its mouth and sent a fresh spawn flying through the air towards the Doctor.

A woman screamed, cradling her child, trying to protect her from the creature which they thought threatened them, but Hagros's armed men quickly aimed their weapons and fired upon the spawn, who did not have the same psychic protection as the bodies they did and could possess. And they quickly took advantage of that weakness.

''Everybody inside!'' Hagros cried, trying to outyell the deafening noises of chaos and gunshots which were all around them.

The child seemed to roar in rage, and the infected outside did the same; they opened their mouths and unleashed other spawns, dozens of newly grown tentacled, slimy creatures upon the house.

All feared the creatures, except Aeryn who was happy to be able to reach out for her gun again without being disappointed when psychic shielding would prevent her from hitting nothing but air.

The spawn crawled through each and every hole and crack in the walls and windows, crawling on all four sides of the building towards their victims.

Hagros's men emptied their weaponry upon the creatures as the last people fled into the hatch; not all were able to escape as the creatures climbed down their throats.

The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver in front of him as a weapon as he escorted Aeryn to the hatch.

''Come on!'' yelled Aeryn as she pulled on the Doctor's coat.

The spawn were defeaten, but some had succeeded in infecting the people inside, who immediately started to rip off the boards which barricaded the front door, letting the multitude of infected people into the house.

''Let's go!'' cried Aeryn.

Hagros's men quickly climbed down the hatch, followed by Aeryn and the Doctor.

Green eyes came closer and closer and arms almost prevented the Doctor from closing the hatch, but in the end it fell shut with a large sigh.

The Doctor immediately aimed his sonic screwdriver at the closed hatch and locked it shut, making the Viridimon's soldiers unable to follow them.

As they wiped the sweat of fear off their faces, they looked down into the darkness of the caverns, slowly placing one foot below the other as they descended down the rocky stairs and finally disappeared into the shadows.

The sounds of the infected attackers faded away.

The stairs seemed to last forever, descending into vast darkness which now was all around them.

The passage-way down was narrow.

Drops of water could be heard faintly in the background, falling on rock. The sound echoed through the caverns.

Aeryn could hear crackling under her, which she presumed to be one of Hagros's men descending the stairs below her.

The temperature seemed to drop drastically as they finally reached solid ground.

''Well, well, well...'' said the Doctor looking around the cavern, placing his hands in his usual position; in the pockets of his large, brown coat.

The smile on the Doctor's face made it seem like nothing had happened at all. Like they were merely preparing a party, instead of running for their lives.

The cavern was immense, it's roof resembled a large, beautiful cathedral. It was ancient: some stalagtites almost reached the floor.

Water dripped from everything and a strange green fungus lingered on every stone, almost emerging from inside the rocks themselves.

''Thank god you're all right, Doctor.'' said Hagros, but his optimistic spirit would soon be lost as he asked his men why only so little of a once large group of ex-law enforcers had made it.

Hagros sighed.

''I expected them to find us sooner or later.'' he said. ''Although I would have preferred later.''

He looked around the cavern, which was lit up by the pale light of several lanterns which were keenly spread throughout the cave.

''But we should be thankful that so much of us have made it still.''

Aeryn glanced around the cave as well, only to say one thing.

''We should leave.'' she said bluntly.

Hagros seemed surprised to hear those words.

The survivors had already settled as best as they could in the uncomfortable cave.

''The Viridimon knows where we are.'' said Aeryn. ''And it won't take long for it to find us if we stay here any longer.''

''I agree.'' said the Doctor with a raspy voice, looking at Aeryn uncomfortably, as if saying she's right was very hard for him to say, before he cleared his throat.

Aeryn could see Hagros glancing for only a second at the stairs they had just descended, half expecting an infected man or woman to appear, gazing at him with its dreadful green eyes.

Hagros picked up his lantern from the rocky, wet floor.

''You're right.'' he finally said.

However, many refused, standing up to their leader Hagros, by merely refusing to stand up.

''Come on, people!'' said Hagros, waving his lantern about and ordering his men to pick up the other lanterns as well.

''We have to leave! It is not safe for us to linger here!''

''Where is it safe for us to linger, huh?'' a feisty, old woman said. ''Where can we hide? Nowhere, that's where!''

Many people nodded in agreement.

''It doesn't matter where we are, they'll find us anyway! So I say we stay!''

''We can't stay!'' said Aeryn, suddenly losing her control.

The survivors all gazed at her in confusion.

''Why?'' the old woman said, standing on the other side of the cavern. ''Because you say so? Oh, no we don't. The time of us listening to Peacekeepers is long gone.''

''I'm no Peacekeeper!'' said Aeryn.

''Do I look like I care?'' the old woman said.

Aeryn reached for her weapon in a split second, but no-one even realised it until the Doctor had put his hands around Aeryn, preventing her from shooting it.

Aeryn's ears popped as she suddenly felt the Doctor's warm hands against her skin once more, reminded of a kiss that saved her life.

''Don't do it, Aeryn.'' whispered the Doctor. ''Lower your arm. Put the gun back in its holster. Let me handle this.''

''Let you handle this?'' said Aeryn.

''Yup.'' said the Doctor.

Now all gazed up at the Doctor, and the old woman sat down, as he was seen stepping on to a stone so that he would tower over them even more.

He looked down on everyone, silencing everyone with his undeniably, strong and intimidating presence.

''Listen to me.'' said the Doctor. ''I know what you are all thinking. You are asking yourself: how many? And how much?

How many had been taken? How many have escaped?

How long will we have to live in these caverns? How long must we run from that monster on the surface?''

Aeryn looked around the cavern, seeing all those frightened faces, looking for hope. Looking for light in the darkness, that would lead them the way to salvation.

Mothers were hugging their children. Husbands were holding their wives. Friends were holding hands. Lovers were comforting each other's sadness.

And everyone was wiping away their tears.

''And I won't lie to you.'' the Doctor went on. ''The situation is bad. Supplies are low, and danger lurks behind every corner. But listen to me, for now I ask of you...'' The Doctor gave room for a dramatic pause as he looked around the cavern. ''Can you feel it?'' he finally asked.

Everyone was confused.

''Hmmm?'' the Doctor asked. ''Can you feel it? The fear that has gripped your hearts and souls? The fear that has frozen you, that has clouded your minds?''

He jumped from the rock he stood on to walk among the survivors. All looked upon him in awe and Aeryn saw Diolan, joining her side, also looking at the radiant Doctor.

''Can you hear it?'' the Doctor said. ''Whispering in your ears, telling you to run, to hide, to...to get to those ships that are still standing untouched on the landing bay not far from here and get the hell out of here! This place is lost isn't it? This asteroid? Your home? Is it not? Lost?! Conquered?! Taken from you?!''

No-one had noticed how the Doctor's voice grew louder and louder until he suddenly spoke like before, calm and wise with a softer volume, but even his whispers would echo through the cavern.

''Fear is so easy.'' said the Doctor. ''Too easy. Give in to fear, and I assure you, you will have lost everything. Your home. Your families. The ones you love. But most importantly...you will have lost hope. And without hope...you are nothing.''

Aeryn's heart skipped a beat, and suddenly it seemed like something was blocking Aeryn's throat, making her unable to breathe.

She hid her broken heart and memories. Not speaking, nor moving, nor blinking as she heard those words. Acting like she heard nothing. But she had.

And no-one knew those words had just pierced Aeryn's heart, as if someone had taken a sword and jabbed it right through her chest.

''But why have hope, when it is so much easier to give in to fear?'' the Doctor asked. ''I can't blame you. For hope is so very hard to find in these dark and gloomy caverns.''

He looked around, as if he examined the place, but Aeryn recognised it as another one of his dramatic pauses.

The Doctor was waiting. Waiting for...

''But what can we do?'' asked a woman, cradling a baby in her hands. She looked at the Doctor with red eyes full of tears.

''We can do nothing.'' the Doctor answered. ''Nothing, but stand up, move on, carry our own weight, make our own decisions and have faith.''

The Doctor smiled as he reached his hand out to the woman, pulling her up from the ground.

''And hope surely follows.'' he added.


	11. The Caves

They had walked for what seemed hours on end, through darkness and narrow passage-ways, through rock and tunnel and water. Hagros had decided that they should not stay in one place too long, so they ended up moving through the caverns like nomads, only resting until they needed to. Which was now.

The passage ahead had been blocked by fallen boulders, and it would take some time for Hagros's men to clear the path; time most spent sitting down on uncomfortable rocky surface, as they tried to enjoy this gracious moment of not using one's legs, which were now hurting like never before.

The Doctor put on his glasses and stood before the blocked passage-way, examining the fallen boulders, touching it with his hands, as if by touch alone the Doctor could clear the way through. Eyes turned his way and whispering grew as they watched the Doctor, maybe even expecting something to happen.

But nothing happened.

The Doctor turned away from the blocked passage-way, making way for Hagros's men to do their heavy work.

''Are you a sorcerer?'' Diolan asked.

The Doctor smiled as he leaned against the cavern wall, putting his hands in his pockets. ''Why'd you say that?'' he asked.

''No reason.'' Diolan said. ''It's just...''

The Doctor took his hands out of his pockets and revealed his sonic screwdriver, and a small, green, shiny object the size of his hand.

Diolan gazed in wonder, acting as if he didn't see, how the Doctor's sonic screwdriver kept on humming as it sliced off the parings of the apple with an invisible knife, surprisingly accurate and gentle, as if the apple had simply decided to shed its fur.

The Doctor took a clumsy bite from the apple as he smiled at Diolan.

''Apple?'' said the Doctor to Aeryn as she sat down next to him.

''No thank you.'' said Aeryn immediately. ''I'll pass.''

''Its good for you.'' said the Doctor, trying to persuade her still.

The Doctor held the shiny, light-green apple in front of Aeryn, luring and enticing her with a gracious, all-knowing smile which annoyed Aeryn yet again. Somehow he knew Aeryn was feeling hungry.

''Its from Earth.'' said the Doctor. ''Its fruit. Falls from a tree every now and again, containing unbelievable taste. And that isn't surprising knowing that the best cooks do tend to be trees. Although there was this chef on the planet of Mintaka who...''

''Stop talking and just give me the apple.'' Aeryn said, holding out her hand in frustration, staring at the dark ground.

Aeryn was reminded of the long silence neither of them chose to break during that long walk through the caverns, and the blasted, optimistic smile on the Doctor's face. A expression of hope, but was it real?

She sat down on a seemingly flat rocky surface, taking off her heavy, black, leather boots with a sigh of relief. She saw the Doctor glancing at her white socks before quickly looking away.

''Be careful not to lean too far back.'' said the Doctor. ''Or else you'll find yourself falling for quite a while...''

Aeryn glanced, without meaning to, over her shoulder into the vast darkness behind her, a gap in the cavern floor of which the floor remained unseen in the shadows.

''I'll probably just fall a few metras.'' said Aeryn. "Nothing serious."

But the Doctor said nothing, pointing at a small drop of water which was climbing down a gigantic stalactite hanging from the ceiling above the gap.

The drop of water reflected one ray of pure light at them as pale light of Hagros's lanterns shined on it, as the drop of water descended even more and more, until it could no longer cling on to the rock and fell into the shadow.

Aeryn gazed down, expecting to hear a faint sound as the drop would touch the ground below, but that sound never came, and Aeryn respectfully moved away from the gap behind her, turning to the Doctor with an annoyed and hateful smile.

''You know, I really hate you.'' Aeryn said. How did he know everything?

''If you're right, you're right.'' the Doctor said smiling, but for one moment Aeryn could see him glancing suspiciously at the green apple in her hands.

But before Aeryn could think any further, a voice interrupted them.

''Tobian?'' it said.

Although the Doctor (on purposely, Aeryn noticed) had stationed himself away from the large group of survivors, an old woman now stood in front of them, addressing Diolan.

''My name's Diolan.'' said Diolan, made uncomfortable by this woman's sudden appearance.

''You know this woman, Diolan?'' the Doctor asked.

Diolan hesitated.

''Tell her Tobian!'' the woman said. ''Tell them who I am! The woman who raised you as her own son! How long has it been since you left, following your brother's footsteps?''

Diolan still wouldn't say anything, and somehow Aeryn knew that Diolan would not say anything whilst either she or the Doctor were around.

''Answer her Diolan.'' said the Doctor.

''His name's Tobian!'' the old woman cried. ''I should know! I gave it to him!''

''My name's Diolan!'' Diolan cried with difficulty. ''I chose it myself!''

''Tobian, don't be silly!'' the old woman said.

Another, far younger woman with curly brown hair appeared behind the old woman, reaching out to her.

''Jaleeth! No!'' the woman with the brown hair cried.

''I am not your son, woman!'' Diolan said. ''You...you mistake me for somebody else!''

''You're mad!'' Jaleeth cried. The woman with the brown hair tried to comfort her, tried to hold her back, but the old woman wouldn't budge. ''I raised you! I remember it like it was yesterday, when I found you two lying on the sidewalk, in the pouring rain! And now you cast me aside, push me out of your life, for the second time? How dare you! Me who fed you! Who clothed you! Who loved you like you were my own!''

''I don't know you woman!'' Diolan cried. ''I chose my own name! You...you don't control me anymore...''

That last sentence Diolan whispered, and only Aeryn and the Doctor heard it, but they said nothing.

''How dare you!'' Jaleeth yelled, fighting to get to Diolan, but the woman with the brown hair wouldn't let her. ''How dare you!''

Finally the woman with the brown hair won, and managed to get the old woman back to the other side of the cavern.

But even there, she would not stop looking into Diolan's direction.

''I'm sorry...for that.'' Diolan eventually said. ''She probably mistook me for somebody else. That...demented...woman...''

And Aeryn knew he was lying, hiding something away from them; something that he didn't want them to know.

''Probably.'' the Doctor said, swallowing as he tried to find the right words to break the silence. ''It's hard to let go of someone you love. You don't want them to go, and sometimes you forget they ever left. But they did.''

''And sometimes... you must let them go, for you have no choice.'' Aeryn said.

The Doctor smiled slightly.

''Quite right.'' he said.

''Everyone has their secrets.'' Aeryn said to herself. ''Everyone has something to hide.

A past. A future.

Something they hide, or hide away from, but its the present which matters, right?''

She could not help but wonder of all those secrets.

Diolan's.

The Doctor's.

She was unaware that her eyes had wandered through the cavern, gazing at rock and stone, and finally she was looking at Hagros, but lost in her thoughts she did not realise it until a few moments later, and then she noticed that Hagros was staring at her too.

No wait, not at her.

Aeryn looked over her shoulder.

Hagros was staring at the Doctor, with a horrid look in his eyes.

''What about the plan, Doctor?'' Aeryn said.

She was reminded of the moment when Aeryn had asked him if he could do it. If he could save them all.

And he said yes.

But he had not said when.

They were sitting in this gloomy cavern still, running away from the Viridimon. Not fighting the Viridimon, like the Doctor had promised.

Aeryn shook her head.

The Doctor had not promised her anything.

''Doctor?'' Aeryn asked again.

''We can't do anything without Hagros's help now.'' said the Doctor.

''Well, what do we need?'' Aeryn asked.

The Doctor started to pace around, thinking of the plan.

''We need as many men as possible.'' the Doctor said. ''And we need navigation.''

His eyes drifted to the cavern's ceiling, trying to pierce through the rock and see the night sky and stars.

''We don't know where we are. We don't know where to go. And finally, I think we need a diversion. Something to draw the Viridimon out. To lure him somewhere he can't get to us.''

''Why do you keep referring to the creature as a 'him'?'' Diolan asked.

''It's a him.'' Aeryn immediately said. ''Definitely.''

''I couldn't have said it better.'' the Doctor said.

Aeryn had that thing in her mind, torturing her, imprisoning her. She had felt that thing inside her long enough to know that it was male. Aeryn didn't know it. She felt it.

Another silence followed, and Aeryn couldn't bear looking at the Doctor any longer without wondering about his secrets. The things he wouldn't tell them. The things he unwillingly showed her.

The image of the young girl which was burned in Aeryn's mind. The young girl; burning, floating, into a vast bright white.

She shook that image out of her head, put on her boots and stood up.

''I can't stand it anymore doing nothing.'' Aeryn said. ''I'll see if I can find Hagros.''

Aeryn wandered through the group of survivors who all looked up when she walked past them. Aeryn ignored their glares. Almost all of them hated Peacekeepers, this Aeryn now realised. The people of this settlement had all been oppressed by the Peacekeepers many years ago, until their now current Monarch took over. Some say he was elected, but no-one had ever cast a vote. More say he simply bought this settlement out of the hands of the Peacekeepers. Lyan Nektar his name was.

The man who ran when the Viridimon's soldiers attacked. He fled in his precious ship when his famed, elite guards were all infected. And the only one who they could count on was the head of their community council: Lazar Hagros.

Who was now nowhere to be found.

''Where the hell is he?'' Aeryn said to herself when she had sought every corner of the cavern, unable to find him.

But instead, she found someone else. Someone she had forgotten about when the Viridimon attacked and forced them to withdraw into the caverns.

Ferril.

''You!'' said Aeryn.

She saw Ferril talking nervously to his children, with a forced smile, but when Aeryn approached and cornered him, he nearly exploded in anger.

''What do you want?'' yelled Ferril. ''Just get away from me!''

Aeryn glanced only once at the frightened children, who were lead away by Deborah in her white gown.

''I'll make this brief.'' Aeryn said with a cold rage. ''If you ever touch your children again...''

''Get away from me!'' said Ferril trying to walk away, but Aeryn pushed the old man with the huge moustache back against the rock wall.

''Look!'' Ferril said. ''I will not listen to this dren a second time!''

''Second time?'' asked Aeryn.

''Yes...'' answered Ferril, still trying to get away without success. ''I've already been threatened...!''

''By whom?'' asked Aeryn.

''By that monster of a man!'' Ferril said. ''That Doctor!''

And as Ferril pointed into his direction, Aeryn froze, for she thought the Doctor hadn't seen it, how Ferril treated his children. She thought he didn't care.

''He threatened me.'' Ferril said, with a hint of true fear in his voice. ''He said he'd find me. Wherever. Whenever. He said the fires of damnation would be...would be nothing compared to what he'd do to me!''

Aeryn glanced over her shoulder at the Doctor, and although he seemed to be talking to Diolan, Aeryn knew that he saw her. That he was looking at her.

''I will never hit them again, all right?'' Ferril said. ''I swear to the Gods that I will treat them right from now on. Just...just leave me alone!''

Ferril pushed Aeryn out of his way, and Aeryn did not push back.

How the Doctor had spoken to that crowd amazed Aeryn; how easily he convinced them to stand up and keep moving.

He spoke of hope and faith, yet all Aeryn could see was a very clever manipulation, tricking all those people into having faith in him. To follow him.

Yet the Doctor never took advantage of the faith they had all put in him.

Never did he do anything but smile and be optimistic.

But where is their freedom? Where is their victory?

Had the Doctor given all these people false hope? Had he given Aeryn false hope?

And all Aeryn wanted now, was the truth.

But then she realised there was no truth. No garantuee. No promise.

There was only the Doctor. And you believed in him, or you didn't.

''Look out!'' one of Hagros's men cried.

They had been trying to clear the cavern's doorway, lifting the boulders out of their way and crushing others into dust with a pickaxe. Yet one wrong decision had now caused for the cavern to collapse yet again, and boulders came crashing down upon them.

Three large rocks were tumbling down and where easily avoided by three of Hagros's men who stood the closest to it. The others quickly backed away.

Aeryn ran towards the danger, dropping the apple without realising, when she saw the smaller rocks falling, causing no harm, but they were merely the advance guard for a larger rock which would follow and fall directly upon one of them, most likely crushing them to death.

Aeryn jumped over sitting people to get to that man just in time, her hands cradling the rock just as it hit his back.

But then Aeryn noticed she wasn't the only one holding the rock in her hands.

A pair of skinny, pale hands lifted the rock as well, higher and higher until the man could crawl out of danger.

''Excellent timing.'' said the Doctor with difficulty.

''I could say the same of you.'' said Aeryn, experiencing the same troubles.

Aeryn's body was trembling under the intense weight, and the pain grew stronger the longer she held the rock in her hands.

And when she looked up, gazing into the Doctor's big eyes, all she could think of was him.

The mystery that was the Doctor.

The Doctor and that blonde, beautiful girl, floating into a bright white background. Into nothing. With eyes full of fire.

Eyes like the Doctor.

And when Aeryn and the Doctor finally dropped the rock down on the ground, Aeryn backed away from the Doctor, as suddenly, and she did not know why, a name popped into her head. Just like that.

A name she had never heard of before. A name she didn't know was a name. But somehow, at that moment, she knew it was.

And Aeryn wondered how the Doctor had planted it there, in her mind. For how else could she have known?

How else could she have known that girl's name...how?

Hagros's men, although experiencing shock still, returned to work, and the Doctor sat down on the rocky ground, curling his back in such a way he was almost lying down.

And Aeryn sat down behind him, putting his back against his, for she dared not look him in the eyes.

Not now. Not during what she was about to do.

Aeryn ignored the glances of the curious people sitting in far in front of her, and waited for the right time.

When the Doctor felt most comfortable. When the Doctor would let down his guard.

_#Panic on the streets of London...#_

Ironically, panic spread through the cavern when all of a sudden this noise echoed against the unstable walls of rock. Music unknown to them all.

And when Aeryn looked over her shoulder at the Doctor, she could see him fiddling around with a small, strange device in his hands.

''Sorry!'' the Doctor yelled. ''My fault! That was me, yeah, sorry!''

This feeling of false alarm did not amuse them, in fact, quite the opposite.

Still trying to apologise, the Doctor quickly put the device back in his pocket and sat down with a sigh, settling his back even closer against Aeryn's.

And when Aeryn felt the Doctor's warmth spreading into her own back, she knew he was comfortable, and strangely enough, so was Aeryn.

And although the people around them were all tense, the Doctor seemed calm, and most importantly, not suspecting of what Aeryn was about to do, and so Aeryn took a deep breath, and took a shot.

''Who's Rose?'' Aeryn asked.

The silence which followed lasted for mere seconds, yet it was long enough to send shivers down Aeryn's spine.

''Who's Crichton?'' the Doctor asked.

Aeryn's heart stopped beating.

With only one word, one name, the Doctor had found her weakness. With one name the Doctor had put a mirror in front of Aeryn, making her realise that she was no different. Just as silent and reclusive about her feelings and past.

Just like the Doctor, Aeryn had secrets. Just like the Doctor, Aeryn had lost someone she loved.

''I'm sorry.'' said the Doctor.

''Don't be.'' Aeryn said. ''I'm not.''

She stood up and walked away, not seeing the hint of disappointment in the Doctor's eyes, and not noticing the unusual bump against her shoulder when someone passed her.

''Where is my son?!'' a voice cried behind Aeryn.

Aeryn turned around and saw Jaleeth yelling at the Doctor.

''He is my son! I'm telling you!''

''I wouldn't know.'' the Doctor simply said.

''You wouldn't care! That is what it is!'' Jaleeth cried. ''You say you're here to help us! But you're just like all the other Sebaceans!''

''I'm no Sebacean!'' the Doctor yelled.

''Well I don't care!'' Jaleeth replied.

''Leave him alone.'' Aeryn said, feeling that familiar anger bottle up inside of her again. A sensation which she had learned to enjoy, for feeling it meant she was still alive.

''Get out of my way Peacekeeper!'' Jaleeth said. ''You don't care about my son!''

''Jaleeth!'' Hagros cried, suddenly appearing, trying to settle the argument. ''Leave them alone!''

''I don't have to listen to you!'' Jaleeth said. ''You who accused the Monarch of being a coward, and then you ran away yourself! I still remember how you froze when those green-eyed things attacked!''

''I am head of the community council!'' Hagros cried.

''You are head of nothing, seeing that all the other members of the council have all been infected!'' Jaleeth yelled.

The woman with the brown hair appeared again, trying to grab Jaleeth's arm and pull her away.

''No!'' Jaleeth cried, resisting her kind words and gentle touch. ''I won't be silenced this time! I'm here for my son! Where is he?''

''He's not your son!'' Aeryn said.

''By damned he is!'' Jaleeth cried, pointing at the third eye at the centre of her forehead.

''This eye isn't just for show, Peacekeeper! We know when someone is lying! We can see it! I can even smell it!''

''Don't be ridiculous!'' Aeryn replied.

''Frell you!'' Jaleeth said, moving closer to the Doctor.

''I don't trust anyone of them to do the right thing Doctor!'' Jaleeth said. ''Except for you! Convince my son to come back to me! He looks up to you! You can deliver my son home!''

The Doctor remained silent.

''Please Doctor!'' Jaleeth said. ''I beg of you...''

''If he does not want to talk to you,'' the Doctor said. ''there's nothing I can do about it.''

''You lie!'' Jaleeth yelled.

She attacked the Doctor in frenzy, pushing him further back, until they stood at the very edge of the gap in the cavern's floor.

Jaleeth's sharp nails pierced through the Doctor's wrists as she struggled with him in a blind fury, pushing the Doctor further and further, until...

Aeryn grabbed her back and pulled her away, throwing Jaleeth on the ground, before reaching for her weapon.

''No!'' Diolan cried.

Aeryn looked at Diolan, a distraction which gave Jaleeth the opportunity to pull herself away from the arms which tried to hold her down and attack Aeryn, pushing Aeryn against the wall: pushing Aeryn straight through it.

The weak wall of rock crumbled when it could not handle the weight of them both, and Aeryn fell down on her back, gasping for air as dust filled her lungs.

''Aeryn!'' she heard the Doctor cry.

Aeryn pushed Jaleeth off of her and tried to climb back on her feet.

Her back felt excruciatingly bad and wounded, and the dust made her unable to see, but her ears heard Jaleeth scream her lungs out, and as Aeryn turned around, she soon discovered why.

A dark, terrifying hole or gap was gazing right into Aeryn's eyes it seemed. A hollow eye of a huge skull.

A skull of a gigantic skeleton.

''What the frell...'' Aeryn said.

They were surrounded by gigantic skeletons of monsters long gone.

''Get out of there!'' the Doctor said. ''Now!''

Jaleeth and Aeryn did as the Doctor said, coughing as they tried to get the dust out of their lungs.

Jaleeth was welcomed by the hands of Hagros's men. Aeryn suddenly found herself in the Doctor's arms.

The Doctor instructed them to let the skeletons wait, letting the air rid itself of bacteria before they would enter.

''What are they, Doctor?'' Aeryn asked, knowing he'd know the answer, but the answer somehow surprised her, yet in the end it didn't. It was such a logical answer that Aeryn thought there could not have been any other way.

''They're Viridimon.'' said the Doctor, peering into the darkness of the cavern with a lantern in his hands, which pushed back the shadows with pale light.

Aeryn counted at least five skeletons lying motionless and half scattered across the cavern.

Five skeletons with five huge skulls with one big gap in its centre; the place where its eye used to be.

The Doctor crouched to examine one of the skulls with his sonic screwdriver, putting his glasses on with a swift and subtle motion.

''I'd say they're about fifty years old.'' said the Doctor. ''Give or take a few months.''

The blue glow disappeared with a flick of a switch.

''These caves were abandoned fifty years ago.'' Hagros said.

''Coincidence?'' said the Doctor mysteriously. ''I think not.''

''How did they die, Doctor?'' Aeryn asked. Her solemn voice echoed through the small cavern, as she kneeled down next to one of the skeletons. One which she nearly crushed when she fell through the wall.

''Hard to tell, really.'' said the Doctor. ''Since it happened so long ago...''

He walked slowly among the remains. The word which sprung to Aeryn's mind was ''respectfully''.

''But I'd say they died of starvation.'' finished the Doctor.

''Starvation?'' asked Aeryn confused, but the Doctor did not answer her immediately.

''I was wrong in saying that the Viridimon were seekers of knowledge...'' answered the Doctor in his most mysterious of voices. ''They don't seek.''

He paused, and his eyes seemed to be glowing in the darkness.

''They devour.'' he said ragefully.

''No-one really quite says it like you do, Doctor.'' Solem said from within the shadows.

Aeryn stood up and gazed into the small corridor which lead away into the darkness.

And there it was. The sight they had come to fear: two green eyes burning brightly in the darkness of the caverns, approaching them, and with it, a figure was seen emerging from the darkness. Only one.

''Please, do go on.'' said the Viridimon, speaking through Solem.

There was a strange silence as the Doctor gazed into Solem's eyes. The last time they saw him he killed Mairic and Baelen, infected Aeryn and burned the room they stood in to the ground.

''Viridimon eat knowledge.'' the Doctor went on. ''It's the only thing which keeps them going. Literally. They die if they can't find new knowledge. New things to know. Just, new.''

Solem smiled.

''And without it,'' the Doctor said, looking upon the skeletal remains which surrounded them. ''they just wither and die.''

Their eyes met again.

''Very, very slowly.''

Solem looked away, and in the Doctor's eyes, Aeryn could see nothing but a complete, undeniable void of sadness.

''I'm sorry.'' the Doctor said. ''I'm so sorry.''

''I lived on Doctor.'' said Solem. ''And so did you. The Timewar claims its victims, no matter whether they fight or hide.''

''Timewar?'' Aeryn wondered.

''I was but a child when we sought refuge on this rock, chosing to hide in its very core.'' Solem said. ''I understood nothing of what was going on, but my mother, my dear mother, explained it to me.''

Solem touched the skull of one of the skeletons with a loving grace, hesitating at first, but endulging himself when the feel of the cold bone was beginning to feel good.

''She told me everything she knew.'' Solem said. ''And all that old knowledge was new to me, Doctor. It fed me. It kept me alive. It kept me alive to see all of them die. Slowly, as you said Doctor, but you can't possibly imagine what it was like.''

''I can't.'' said the Doctor.

''To see the life finally be drained from their eyes. One by one they succumbed to the shadows, and I was all there was left of the Viridimon when finally my mother died. A child, alone in the dark. The last of his kind. And I knew I had to survive...''

''And you did...'' the Doctor said. ''You did survive.''

''A stroke of luck, Doctor.'' said Solem. ''Or was it fate? Who knows? Fate has drawn you to me, Doctor. And fate wants us to be together.''

''I doubt it.'' the Doctor said.

''Think about it.'' Solem said. ''I...the one who is destined to seek knowledge by blood...meeting the one man in the entire universe with all the answers...the only one left of his species, just like me...''

Solem paused, gazing upon the Doctor like an animal looking upon its prey.

''I would give...everything...to know...what you know, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''I would do...anything. Even offer you the lives...and minds of all of the people I infected in return! Think about it Doctor! They would live! Isn't that what you want? You'd give back everyone's freedom...and I mean everyone...and at the same time you would live in a dreamworld of your own choosing! Think back to when you entered Aeryn's mind! When I tasted you, Doctor! When I had that magnificent glimpse into your mind! Think back!

You could be back amongst your own kind Doctor! Gallifrey could stand tall once more!''

''But only in my mind.'' said the Doctor.

Solem grew desperate in his attempts to convince the Doctor, and his eyes caught Aeryn standing beside him.

''You could be with _her_ again, Doctor.'' whispered Solem. ''Separated no more. Free to roam every single one of your memories with her, for the rest of eternity.''

''You should leave.'' said the Doctor.

The soft tone of this threat terrified Aeryn. The sadness and rage seemed to build up inside the Doctor, like a volcano ready to burst.

''But Doctor...'' Solem said.

''I give only one warning!'' said the Doctor. ''Leave now! Before I rip you to pieces!''

Solem backed away only slightly, and when he did the storm inside the Doctor seemed to calm down, if only to let the fire inside him burn longer.

''I gave you a chance to save them all Doctor.'' Solem said. ''But now...you've only made it worse.''

''No,'' the Doctor said. ''It is you who's made it worse.''

''And what are you going to do about it, Doctor?'' Solem said. ''I have an army! You have nothing! Look at them!''

Solem pointed at the people standing behind the Doctor, under the arch of the broken, rock wall.

''A jealous leader.'' Solem said, pointing at Hagros.

''A frightened kid.'' Solem said, pointing at Diolan.

''An old hag.'' he said, pointing at Jaleeth.

''Five men with useless guns.'' he said, pointing at Hagros's men.

''And beautiful Aeryn Sun...full of doubt. Full of anger.''

The Doctor seemed to take a step forward, as if he was protecting Aeryn with one single gesture.

''And fifty more frightened civilians!'' Solem went on. ''Is that your army, Doctor?''

Solem laughed, mocking the Doctor, but the Doctor stood motionless, gazing into Solem's green eyes with an unstoppable fury.

''You can't stop me Doctor...just face it...'' Solem said.

''You think you know me...'' the Doctor said. ''Just because you saw into my mind once?''

''No-one knows you, Doctor.'' Solem said.

''That's not true.'' the Doctor simply said with defiant eyes. ''Everyone knows me. The Destroyer, they called me. The Oncoming Storm. I am the Doctor, and when you say I have nothing, you are wrong. For I have this...''

The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver in front of his face, quite casually.

''And it is very good...at doing this.''

With one push of a button, a blue glow and a smooth hum, the cavern between Solem and the Doctor came crashing down, forming a perfect wall of many boulders, none of which even fell close to the Doctor's white shoes.

And as the dust settled, the Doctor turned around, and everyone made way for him to pass, terrified by his presence and power. None said a word, fearing an unspeakable rage.


	12. The Darkness

The Doctor isolated himself from everyone yet again, as he stood beside the gap in the cavern and gazed down into the darkness.

Shadows were cast upon his face, with only his big nose catching a glimpse of light.

''Get those rocks out of our way!'' Hagros yelled to his men. ''Get back to work! We have to leave this place, right now!''

''But...but...we don''t have to...'' Jaleeth realised. ''We don't have to leave! He's not after us! He's after him! Didn't you hear it? Didn't you hear the creature speak through that man?''

But the Doctor was somehow cut off from reality, staring down into the abyss with an absent, devastated look in his eyes, with his eyes being two tiny portals, two tiny black holes leading into a void of sadness. It was like the darkness of the abyss was reflected in the Doctor's eyes. No, it was the other way round. Like the abyss absorbed the Doctor's immortal, solemn sorrow to become even darker, denser, blacker.

The darkness fed on his fears, growing in strength until Aeryn saw nothing but the Doctor's white shoes in a sea of darkness.

''A friend of mine once said...'' the Doctor said to Aeryn, whispering to her as he tried to regain his voice. ''If you look into the abyss, the abyss looks into you.''

And Aeryn's eyes wandered down into that gap, and she immediately turned away, frightened by the prospect of what she might see when she would gaze in there too long.

She could not help but think back to Solem's words: doubtful Aeryn he had called her.

''Doctor, what is a Timewar?'' Aeryn asked curiously, surprising herself.

''Can you not see he his the mastermind behind this entire scheme!'' Jaleeth yelled at the other side of the cavern. ''He seeks to destroy us all and steal our posessions!''

Aeryn could not believe it when she saw the devastated and ancient look in the Doctor's eyes become even worse.

''A Timewar is a war throughout time,'' the Doctor explained with difficulty, after a short pause, gazing upward in the dark. ''sometimes even fighting with time. There are victories and losses in every war, but then, nothing mattered. Everything died. Entire races, entire cultures and civilizations, simply ceased to be, as if they had never existed. And I am the last one to remember the names of all those constellations. Just me.''

''If your dear old husband could see you now...'' Hagros said to Jaleeth. ''May he rest in peace...his heart would break if he would see you overcome by madness...you demented old hag!''

''Your dear old wife, if she would have been here right now, not infected by the creature, would laugh at seeing what you have become, Hagros!'' Jaleeth replied. ''She would laugh with her bruised, blue face and point at you with her pale, broken fingers...!''

''Enough!'' Hagros said. ''Be silent, you sick old woman!''

''You pathetic little man...'' Jaleeth said. ''I will not listen to you! My husband, may his soul rest comfortably in the afterlife, was a far greater leader than you could ever have been!''

''I served with him, if you remember!'' Hagros shouted.

''Oh, I do remember, Lazar...'' Jaleeth said. ''The stories he used to tell of you...''

''Shut the frell up!'' Diolan cried. ''Both of you! Hagros, Nan, please...please stop Nan...''

Jaleeth suddenly seemed to turn soft, faking tears in her eyes as she approached her adopted grandson.

''Dear boy...'' Jaleeth said, approaching him with open arms. ''You have always been looking for a leader to follow...a foolish quest which blinds you from reality! You idolize them! Make them seem something they are not!''

''Silent, woman!'' Diolan cried, losing his temper. ''Hagros is not to blame for your madness! And neither is the Doctor!''

''My madness, boy?'' Jaleeth snapped. ''My madness?''

Jaleeth's anger echoed through the cavern.

''It is you who are mad, boy! All of you!'' Jaleeth yelled. ''To put your trust into a complete stranger!''

Now Jaleeth had the complete attention of the entire group of survivors.

''What do we know of him, hmm? What do we know of this stranger and his Peacekeeper companion, who somehow turned up when we needed them, with some strange plan and a big smile, but you know what...it is all a lie!

It is all an illusion, created by the Doctor, the greatest illusionist of them all! For all we know he could have created the Viridimon himself and now he tricks us into coming into these caverns, finding so coincidentally the remains of the creature's parents!''

The Doctor turned to face Jaleeth who approached the Doctor on purpose, trying to intimidate the tall, pale stranger, but failed as his defiant, powerful charisma made her waver.

''I say we stop running.'' Jaleeth said. ''I say we stop following this Doctor and start making our own decisions! The creature said it would give all infected back if he could have the Doctor! So why not give it to him?!''

A gunshot.

Dust emerged from the place the swift yellow bolt of light had hit the ceiling, and it fell to the ground in a gracious twirl, right at Aeryn's feet.

''You will do nothing,'' Aeryn said calmly. ''as long as I carry this gun. And as long as you don't have telepathic shielding, like the creature does.''

''Then shoot, Peacekeeper,'' Jaleeth said. ''For I'm not moving until I get what I want.''

''Gran!'' Diolan said, but Jaleeth only looked into his direction once before gazing violently into Aeryn's eyes again.

And in the corner of her eyes Aeryn could see Ferril gazing at her too.

''Doctor?'' Aeryn asked.

Damn. She'd done it again. Her years living on Moya, living as a family, had paid a price upon Aeryn's mind.

She had come to rely upon her team-members to have her back, but they were not here.

There was the young Diolan, but he was not fit for combat.

And there was the Doctor, her new saviour, who never carried a weapon.

Why did she always need someone to save her? Why?

But the Doctor said nothing. Perhaps he knew Hagros would interfere, which he did.

''You'd better leave, Doctor.'' Hagros said to the Doctor.

''You would abandon me, is that it?'' the Doctor suddenly said. ''Betray me?''

Aeryn couldn't help but feel glad to hear his voice again, full of energy and spunk yet again.

No longer the ancient, damaged and faded whisper of an old and broken man, but the voice of a strong, unbeatable young fellow with strange long sideburns, spiky hair and a big smile.

''You want to bring hope to this people, Doctor.'' Hagros said, almost sadly, moving closer to the Doctor. ''My people, who are merchants, who believe in a material world, not a world of faith. They don't want hope, Doctor. They want someone to blame. Someone to sacrifice so that they are able to believe that the evil has gone.''

''But it won't, Hagros.'' the Doctor said, taking a step towards him, talking in the same conspiring whisper. ''And you know it. The Viridimon spoke about us, knowing a lot about us. Too much. His spy is among us still, watching, sowing discontent and fear among your precious people, Hagros. Your precious people I strive to save. Your precious people who lived their lives, fifty years ago, just like normal. Your precious people...who let an entire species die, right under their very noses!''

The Doctor's voice had turned from a whisper into a loud, cold fury, with a fire dancing in the Doctor's eyes.

''We didn't know, Doctor!'' Hagros tried to defend himself, but the Doctor ignored him, raising his voice even more.

Somehow the Doctor felt responsible for the Viridimon. His actions were now his faults. His family was now his loss, as if he could have saved them. As if he blamed himself for their deaths.

''I asked for your help, but you won't give it to me.'' the Doctor said. ''You wouldn't even try to save yourself from damnation!''

Jaleeth blinked, but never wavered.

''I warned you.'' the Doctor said. ''All of you. I gave you a plan. I gave you hope. What more do you want? But, oh no, you change your minds, you let hope slip away and welcome fear into your hearts and you push me away! Well I ask you, what are you going to do when I'm gone, Hagros? How will you live your lives under the tiranny and threat of the Viridimon?!''

''We run.'' Hagros said. ''We hide. But we'll manage. We'll live.''

''You'll manage!'' the Doctor spoke, his bright sarcastic and evil smile pierced the heart of many.

''There are times when you hide and times when you run. But this isn't one of them...this time...you fight!''

''Against a threat such as this?'' Hagros replied. ''Impossible.''

'''Impossible.''' the Doctor quoted, calming down as his eyes stopped burning, and instead he looked upon Hagros in pity. ''That is the one word which acknowledges defeat, and total hopelessness. And now I know it is over. For you.''

Hagros said nothing.

''I pity you.'' the Doctor said. ''Those infected people on the surface? They are nothing compared to you. They were forced into an illusion, a place that wasn't real. Yet you do the same, only voluntarily. You accept fear and reality, yet you push away hope and you would almost sell away the only one who tries to save you for your own grim reality! Your illusion that everything somehow will sort itself out. But I tell you...it will...only someone...somewhere...must pay the price for it. Someone must take a stand. Someone must fight or sacrifice, so that your puny little lives may go on, not noticing even the battle which had been fought for your own very existence!''

The Doctor stopped talking and looked around at the group of survivors. All of them. No-one dared to look into the Doctor's eyes, save the crazy Jaleeth and the stubborn Hagros.

''If the Viridimon takes you,'' the Doctor whispered. ''it would be justice. It would be logical. The only thing that would make sense in this entire insane world of yours!''

His whisper had erupted into a yell again.

''You are arrogant, Doctor.'' Hagros said, fearing for his life as he approached the Doctor with a careful step.

''You are reckless. And I should know, for I have seen your type before, Doctor. I served alongside many of them in the war, facing the Charrid hordes. They all died Doctor, trying to save the hopeless, and help the defenceless. Trying to defeat evil. But you can't Doctor. Sometimes there is no way to win. And I ask of you, Doctor...can you accept that?''

The Doctor said nothing; his dangerous gaze never changed in that moment. He didn't even blink.

''A day will come, Doctor, that you are unable to defend the innocent,'' Hagros explained. ''that you are unable to slay the monsters, that you are unable to save the ones you love. Will you embrace that day, Doctor?''

Aeryn's heart raced as she awaited his answer, not realising she was still holding up her weapon pointed at Jaleeth.

''Yes.'' the Doctor finally said. ''Yes, I can.''

''Well, I can't Doctor.'' said Hagros. ''I can't risk losing all. Our home. Our lives. I can't risk putting everything we have into your hands, Doctor, for you are as dangerous as you are wise.''

''And for once I agree with you, Hagros. you lucky, lucky man...'' the Doctor said. ''You lucky, lucky, lucky people! You know why I call you lucky? You know why? Because I'm going to save you anyway. I'm going to slay that monster and save my loved ones. I'm going to do the impossible, and you know why?''

''Because you are the Doctor.'' Hagros said.

''Exactly!'' the Doctor shouted.

And after that last word, the Doctor loosened his tie and left, not glancing back once at the people in the cavern he was leaving.

And Aeryn, not knowing what else to do, and feeling it would be the right thing to do, followed the Doctor.

There was no other way, and Aeryn realised she was glad it turned out this way. She relished the chance to journey with the Doctor one last time, before they would face the Viridimon and beat him.

She desperately longed for action; something she was deprived of in those long hours trapped in the caverns.

And silently, Aeryn and the Doctor disappeared into the shadows of the passage-ways.

Jaleeth and Hagros exchanged unpleasant looks, before Hagros looked into the abyss and sighed.

His sigh echoed through the cave.

All what was needed to be said, had been said, and although Hagros disliked the manner in which he and the Doctor parted ways, he did not regret his words. And he never would.

* * *

Lightning pierced the sky above them. Louic could see the blue glow of the fork illuminate the entire bar as its light shined through the hole in the roof.

''Be thankful.'' the Viridimon growled. ''You will witness the coming of a new era, Louic. We shall change history. Bring back our loved ones. Slay our enemies.''

The Viridimon's large orange eye gazed upon Louic standing in the corner of the basement.

''Three obstacles lay in my way. Three keys I have to aquire. A key to power. A key to knowledge. And a key to time.''

The storm raged outside, and the rain fell down through the hole in the bar's roof on to the Viridimon's skin and scales.

The slimy, green and purple scales reflected the moonlight in a wet glow.

''You don't know what I speak of.'' the Viridimon said to Louic. ''But don't worry; you will soon.''

More walls were brought down as the Viridimon's soldiers dragged a strange, large object into the bar. Louic could see the strange, square outlining of the large blue box as he looked up to the first floor.

''The Doctor's machine will help us reach the stars, Louic.'' the Viridimon said. ''It will reunite me with my family...and you with your wife...''

The orange eye looked at Louic with a strange, amused gleam, and the Viridimon blinked slowly before it resumed speaking.

''Touch it.'' the Viridimon said.

''What?'' Louic asked. ''Touch what?''

''The box.'' the Viridimon growled. ''Go upstairs and touch it. And tell me what you feel.''

Was it a request, or an order?

Louic hesitated, fearing what would happen if he would do it wrong.

He felt mocked and used as he walked up the stairs to the first floor, somehow feeling that the Viridimon was still looking at him, although its large orange eye could not see through walls.

Louic passed many infected people who gazed upon him with a strange smile.

''Touch it, Louic.'' the Viridimon said. ''Do it.''

Louic hesitated again as he stood in front of the strange wooden box.

It was a large box; Louic could just touch the box's roof with his hands if he would stretch his body and put a lot of effort into it. But he would never reach the shiny orb on top of the box; a square light.

There were windows in the sides of the blue box, but Louic could not gaze inside. And there was writing on it, just above the door which read: POLICE BOX.

But Hagros had no idea what that meant. He knew the translator microbes were doing their job superbly, but Hagros just didn't understand what it meant. What it was.

''Touch it, Louic.'' the Viridimon urged again.

Louic finally reached out for the box's side. Somehow tension had built up to this moment, so Louic began to fear the touch of the blue wood, but when he finally did feel the warm wood and touched the scratched blue paint...nothing happened and the tension dropped again.

But still...

Something was wrong. Something was strange.

He thought he felt something, but he didn't know what.

Louic shook his head, realising he was feeling his own pulse, pulsating through the veins of his hand which he had pressed against the wood.

But then he felt it again.

A second heartbeat almost, beating slowly from within the wood.

Quickly Louic pulled his hand away from the box.

''Can you feel it? It's power?'' the Viridimon asked. ''Can you feel its potential and future? Its scars and past?''

Louic gazed at his hand, fearing an injury or anything that could have harmed his hand, but his hand remained unscathed and clean.

He touched the wood again only to feel an easing sensation spread across his fingertips.

''There's something inside it.'' Louic said. ''But, while I know I am curious, something tells me, I just, simply, don't want to know. I notice it, but don't. Like it's not there. Like...like it's just an ordinairy, basic, unimportant, common blue box.''

''Fascinating, isn't it?'' the Viridimon said. ''Another layer which is added to the mystery which is the Doctor...''

Louic touched the door of the box, but it wouldn't open. It was locked.

He tried to look down the keyhole, but he saw nothing but darkness.

''They are within my grasp.'' the Viridimon said, not revealing its true agenda to Louic. ''I can feel it. I can feel the moment nearing. The moment when I take my place in the stars...when I shall spread peace and love through the entire cosmos...and together...we shall uncover all secrets in the universe. And all shall be united under one. Like it should be. My ancestors borrowed knowledge to give back...but I will take...like the Peacekeepers taught me...I will conquer...which is the only way to achieve victory...a victory through arms!''

''A victory without arms...'' Louic couldn't help but thinking as he looked on to the limbless, tentacled creature which lay below him in the basement. Unable to move, barely able to speak.

Louic remembered how he had once found this strange creature, crawling through the rubble and stashed away loot and illegal wares and ale in the caverns under his bar. It was dying. It's scales were almost entirely white and it gasped for air with every breath. Louic felt sorry for the creature and carried it inside, hiding it in his basement where he gave it water and food: the creature would drink the water, but not the food. Only when Louic started talking to the creature did it start to live again, Louic noticed. And when he went on with this habit, the creature soon started to move and look and growl again.

The Viridimon was a nice hobby and friend at the time; Louic's wife had only recently died, and taking care of the creature helped to speed up the mourn-process.

But Louic never expected this to happen.

Never realised the threat until it was too late; when the creature devoured that Peacekeeper woman in one single bite.

And now, Louic realised, the roles had been reversed.

Now Louic was the pet, and the Viridimon was his master.

Louic realised that one day the Viridimon would tire of his pet, and he feared what solution the Viridimon would come up with for him...

* * *

''You still here?'' the Doctor asked.

Diolan looked up at the tall Doctor, swallowing as he tried to find the right words.

''Because Hagros was right in saying it is very dangerous...to follow someone like me...''

The Doctor looked at him like only the Doctor could do.

A glare which could see through rock and mind. Both gentle and terrifying.

''It's just that...'' Diolan answered. ''I've got nowhere else to go.''

The Doctor smiled.

''We're all running away from something.'' he said ghastly and wise.

His gaze met Aeryn's eyes in a single moment of solemn silence, and she found herself lost in the dark, little reflection, the little gleam of hopeful light in his eyes, which faded away slowly as they entered the darker parts of the caverns; where the lights of Hagros's carefully placed lanterns could not reach.

''The same offer goes for you, Aeryn.'' the Doctor said. ''You don't have to do this.''

''You're joking?'' Aeryn said.

The Doctor hesitated before saying more.

''...yes.'' he finally said. ''I am.''

''Good.'' Aeryn said, looking away from him as she put her gun back in its holster. ''Let's get moving, shall we?''

The familiar faint sound of water, slowly dropping on to a rocky surface, reached their ears as they walked through the corridors and passage-ways where a vast darkness surrounded them.

''Let there be light.'' the Doctor joked, stretching his long arm high above his head.

In his hand he held his sonic screwdriver, which seemed to ignite when the Doctor pushed a button, illuminating the dark cave just before the darkness was about to swallow them whole.

''Where do we go, Doctor?'' Diolan asked.

Three passage-ways lay ahead. One they had already traversed through during their first walk through the asteroid's caverns, so they knew where it lead. The two other corridors lead into unknown areas.

''I say we choose either that one...or that one.'' the Doctor said, pointing at exactly those two corridors.

''Typical.'' Aeryn said.

''Be nice for a change, will you.'' the Doctor said.

Aeryn sighed.

''I'm always nice.'' she replied.

The passage-way they had finally chosen ended in a path which grew narrower and narrower, until they realised there was no point, for crawling further would lead them nowhere but to their deaths.

They headed back to the same point where they had started, and the Doctor stood in the centre of the large, round cavern scratching his spiky hair and jawning as he said: ''all right...let's take the first path...''

All this time Aeryn had walked beside the Doctor, but dared not to speak, as she was reminded of his encounter with Hagros. This confrontation made her realise that a single word could change everything, yet she started to think whether Hagros had been analyzing the Doctor from the moment he met him.

And then she realised she had been doing the same; even now she had been unaware that she had been looking at him the entire time. She hated herself for it, so she quickened her pace so she would be walking up front, leading the Doctor and Diolan through the caverns. That way she wouldn't have to see him the entire time.

''What was that?'' Diolan suddenly said.

Aeryn and the Doctor turned around to look at Diolan.

The Doctor scratched his ear as he asked: ''What is it?''

''I thought I heard something.'' Diolan answered.

Aeryn's eyes automatically wandered through the cavern in search of various signs.

Signs of a threat. Signs of animals.

The Doctor's sonic screwdriver was emitting so much light that they had woken up a family of bats in a different cavern, so it wouldn't surprise Aeryn if there would be more creatures of the night lurking in the dark somewhere.

''I didn't hear anything.'' the Doctor said. ''Did you?''

He was talking to Aeryn, but Aeryn didn't know it. She was looking around the cavern, and she thought she knew what Diolan was talking about.

''I hear it too.'' she finally said.

''Hear what?'' the Doctor said. ''I don't hear anything. I smell something though...something nearby...''

''There it is again!'' Diolan said.

''I think I heard it too.'' the Doctor finally said.

''I didn't hear anything that time.'' Diolan said. ''I lied.''

''Are you trying to be funny? You little...'' said the Doctor, but as he turned around he stopped in the middle of his sentence; something very much unlike the Doctor.

''Doctor?'' Aeryn said.

She turned around to see six bright, green eyes staring back at her from the shadows.

But they didn't do anything. Didn't moan. Didn't reach out to grab them in their slow manner.

Something was wrong.

The Doctor breathed quickly, rapidly.

Aeryn's heart started to beat in the same rhythm. She could feel it in her neck.

Diolan had frozen, awaiting an order. Awaiting a response. A reaction. Anything.

But the three infected people were still waiting. Waiting.

And as the Doctor moved his screwdriver a little closer to their faces, Aeryn could see they were standing in a most peculiar position, like runners awaiting a gunshot.

At least that was something she remembered from Crichton.

Damn, why did she remember this now?

Aeryn focused on their heavy breathing and their shifting eyes.

''What do they want?'' Diolan said, still making the mistake that there are no multiple enemies here. They are one.

''He wants us to run.'' the Doctor said.

Aeryn braced herself, making a fist as she prepared her feet for a sprint.

''Here we go.'' said the Doctor, doing the same.

The three soldiers were still waiting.

As the Doctor lowered his hand without intending to, their faces disappeared into the darkness again, and only their eyes remained to gaze upon them in terror.

''On three.''

Diolan swallowed again.

''One.''

Aeryn examined her path in the corner of her eyes, preparing herself for a jump over a stalagmite, and she kept reminding herself to stay away from the slippery side of the path. If she slips or falls down, they will get her.

''Two.''

Aeryn could see the hand of one of the infected people twitch in a moment of true enthusiasm.

The Viridimon was enjoying this.

''THREE!''

* * *

The large orange gas-giant had been annoying them with its bright lights for hours now.

How long had they been waiting in the planet's orbit, trying to evade the dangerous storms and electrical currents whilst they waited for the Peacekeepers to arrive. And they didn't even know if they had received their transmission.

All they knew was that their oxygen-supply would run out soon.

They had fled to this nearby planet in search of safety and help, but had encountered no aid or any sign of life for hours. So to finally see the daunting Command Carrier race into sight was a pleasant sight, although their welcome leaved much to be desired.

''Put your hands behind your head!'' the officer yelled the moment they stepped out of their craft and stepped upon the Carrier's landing deck. ''Do it now, or my soldiers will shoot you without hesitating!''

They did as the Peacekeepers demanded of them, and soon the Carrier's captain arrived to mock them some more.

The Monarch of an entire settlement, mocked by a simple captain.

Why?

Because he had firepower and an army at his command, and the power to get away with it.

''Mister Lyan Nektar.'' the captain said. ''Welcome aboard my ship.''

Captain Gladius smiled slightly as he adjusted his leather, black gloves, gazing down at the Monarch and his entourage who had been forced upon their knees on the flight deck.

''Please don't mind your uncomfortable positions right now.'' Gladius said. ''Those are but precautions.''

''Precautions?'' Monarch Nektar asked.

''Security measures to prevent you...from infecting us...'' Gladius said.

''So you did intercept our message.'' Monarch Nektar said.

''Of course I did.'' Gladius said. ''Why do you think I'm here? Such a dangerous report of the attack of an intellant virus shall never go unnoticed by Peacekeeper High Command!''

''I'm glad to hear that.'' Monarch Nektar said. ''My settlement was overrun in mere minutes. There was nothing I could do so I ran and searched for Peacekeeper assistance.''

''And you found it.'' Gladius said. ''Although I doubt we will be of much help to you.''

Monarch Nektar was confused.

''What do you mean?'' he asked.

''You probably think we will try and retake your precious rock...'' Gladius said.

''That's what I want you to do!'' Monarch Nektar said, moving into a standing position, which made all soldiers focus on him. ''Reconquer my settlement! Exterminate the virus!''

''High Command has different plans for you, dear Monarch.'' Gladius said. ''Your settlement, I'm afraid, will be exterminated on arrival. The risk of the virus spreading and infecting the system and neighboring planets is too great. Therefore High Command has ordered me to destroy the asteroid.''

''No.'' Monarch Nektar said, not believing his words.

''There's nothing I can do about it.'' Gladius said. ''And to be frank with you...I don't really care as well...''

''But please!'' Monarch Nektar cried.

''Take them to the brig.'' Gladius said. ''Have them be quarantined and fully examined before anyone even thinks of moving close to them...we don't want a virus loose on my ship, now would we?''

''Captain, please!'' Monarch Nektar cried.

But his pleas went by unnoticed and ignored by the dear captain, and his men who followed him blindly, as the Command Carrier changed its course and headed towards the asteroid.

Estimated arrival: two hours.


	13. The Chase

No time to think.

No time to talk.

Only scream and run and run.

Adrenaline rushed through their veins as the Doctor, Aeryn and Diolan ran like crazy through the dark, never-ending tunnels beneath the surface of the asteroid.

''Run!'' the Doctor yelled; his long brown coat seemed to glide through the air. ''Just keep running! Don't look 'round!''

Diolan focused on the way in front of them, dodging boulders and stalactites which stood in his path.

Aeryn looked around to see the three infected people run straight at them, with the looks of a wild dog on their faces, longing to rip them to pieces.

Their faces were covered with mud and spit was dripping out of their mouths.

And they were gaining on them.

The Viridimon did not know of pain and limitations. He was going to destroy their bodies by pushing them beyond their limits. Aeryn did not know how long it would take before they would die, simply falling down on to the ground in exhaustion without ever coming back up again.

It was a woman, Aeryn noticed. And a tall man, which was probably her husband. And a shorter, younger man running besides them. A brother perhaps? All infected by the Viridimon?

Aeryn almost slipped as a boulder she jumped upon started to wiggle out of place.

Her leg was hurting her, but Aeryn knew she had to keep going.

The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver in front of him, illuminating the caverns which lay ahead of them.

The cavern ahead was splitting into two different tunnels, both heading into an opposite direction.

''LEFT!" Aeryn yelled, but at the same time the Doctor yelled: "RIGHT!''

Which way would they go?

Diolan sprinted ahead of them, fearing the clutches of the infected people as they reached out for him in hunger.

He took the left path and the Doctor and Aeryn merely followed him.

But in his enthusiasm, Diolan forgot what he was doing, and forgot he was running with the speed of a mountain-lion through dark caverns.

Only one thought was needed to distract his mind, and soon Diolan slipped and fell upon the painful rock, into dust.

Both Aeryn and the Doctor took only one step before coming to a full stop, realising that Diolan would not get up in time to outrun the infected runners.

Green eyes came closer and closer as Diolan tried to crawl his way out of the dust, with a stain of blood on his knee.

''Diolan!'' Aeryn yelled.

She ran towards him only to find herself too late; the infected woman jumped through the air right on top of Diolan's back.

In her sprint Aeryn launched herself upon the infected woman with the intention of pushing her away.

Aeryn's fist hit a barrier of white light which grew brighter the longer Aeryn made contact with it, but somehow Aeryn found herself hitting straight through it, actually hitting the woman.

She had punched through the telepathic field...and Aeryn asked herself: how?

The infected woman cradled her face in pain whilst she stumbled backwards into the cave, only to be reinforced in strength when her two brothers arrived.

Aeryn pulled Diolan up and pushed him towards the Doctor, and Aeryn began to wonder if the telepathic field was starting to weaken, or was not as strong as the Doctor had lead them to believe.

She punched the taller infected man as soon as he got into range, but the white barrier appeared again, this time reflecting the attack towards Aeryn, pushing her away from him and on to the ground.

''Get up, Aeryn!'' Diolan shouted.

She reached for her gun and shot at the three infected who now surrounded her. The shot reflected just as her punch had. The telepathic field had repaired itself somehow, or was never flawed at all. But how did she penetrate it the first time then?

Aeryn's heart beat increased. Sweat poured down her neck and forehead as she tried to look around to see where Diolan and the Doctor were standing.

Instead she saw a large figure standing behind her, standing over her, and two big feet wearing white shoes and black laces standing on either side of her head.

The Doctor stepped over Aeryn, lying on the ground cradling her gun, and reached out to the three Viridimon soldiers with his bare hands.

He touched only the white barrier, which now seemed as one as the three infected were standing so close to each other. Aeryn could only see his silhouette as the Doctor battled the infected trio. His hands were glowing white, and so were his teeth.

The white barrier seemed to glow brighter and brighter until it blinded both Diolan and Aeryn. Diolan quickly helped Aeryn up, before cradling his wounded leg once more.

The Doctor screamed as he seemed to push away the barrier with his hands, pushing away the infected trio with all his might. The trio were launched into the air and into the distance of the tunnels, surrounded by light until they hit a rock wall.

''Let's go, before they get up!'' the Doctor shouted.

He was sweating, and he seemed agitated.

This had clearly cost him a lot of strength.

''How'd you do that?'' Diolan asked.

''Not a question for now! A question for later!'' the Doctor said.

They kept running, only to be slowed down once in a while by Diolan's wounded knee.

The caverns were becoming wetter. Small puddles with water were found everywhere, and as they ran through the tunnels, they found themselves stepping into quite a lot of those.

Green and purple fungus seemed to crawl over every single rock in the cavern and instead of the soft sound of drops of water, an entire river of water could be heard in the distance.

''We're getting closer to the surface.'' the Doctor said, pointing to the ceiling.

Where rock diminished, a cold metal glow could be seen, reflected in the screwdriver's light.

''Sewers.'' Aeryn said.

They kept on running through the dark tunnels, stepping from one puddle into another. At one point they encountered a small lake, and they had to carefully, swiftly manouvre across the dark water, from one boulder (which were sticking above the surface of the water) to another and tried to avoid falling into the dark, ghostly and disgusting water.

It glowed a ominous, dark green colour and smelled of rotten fish, and sometimes Aeryn could see bubbles rising from the dark and deep areas in the water.

''Nearly there!'' the Doctor said as he jumped both elegantly and clumbsy from rock to rock until he found his way to the other side of the cavern, where he aimed the light of his sonic screwdriver at a locked door.

The door could only be opened by turning a big wheel on the front, but everything about this door had already been rusted many years ago. The red, ancient door could well fall apart if one was not very careful.

''Can you open it, Doctor?'' Diolan asked.

''Well, I can.'' the Doctor said, trying to turn the wheel with his own strength at first, but with no success. ''But it seems we've run into a new problem...''

At that exact point the screwdriver's bright blue light suddenly...blinked.

''What was that?'' Diolan asked.

For one short second the cavern was absolutely dark again.

''I don't know.'' the Doctor said, examining his precious screwdriver. ''That has never happened before.''

He held it to his ear and tapped it with his knuckles.

It sounded strangely hollow.

And there it went again. For two long seconds the cavern was drenched in darkness again.

''Perhaps the battery's gone.'' the Doctor said scratching his chin. ''It was supposed to last for 100 years...has it been that long ago already?''

''Doctor!'' Aeryn yelled, joining them under the small arch by the door as she aimed her weapon at the three figures which stood at the other side of the lake, gazing at them with their hollow bright green eyes, which shined like lasers on their future victims.

''Is there another way out of here?'' the Doctor asked.

''Not that I can see.'' Aeryn said, looking around the cavern, only seeing water and rock, but no tunnels or corridors in sight besides the one they had used to enter this cavern. The one where three motionless figures were standing right in the middle of, blocking their path, blocking their only way out.

The Doctor insanely started to work on the door, shifting the screwdriver's setting every single second and yelling in anger and frustration every time the screwdriver failed, building up from a few seconds of darkness to an entire minute.

''Come on!'' the Doctor cried.

''They're coming Doctor!'' Aeryn said. ''Doctor open that door now!''

''I'm working on it!'' the Doctor said. ''Stop shouting in my ear!''

''Doctor!'' Diolan cried.

''What did I just say?'' the Doctor said to Diolan, forgetting for a moment what he was supposed to be working on.

''Doctor!'' Aeryn yelled.

''Right! HELLO!'' the Doctor yelled, returning to work on the wheel.

The trio growled in the darkness, and Aeryn saw the scratches on their faces, hands and feet in the pale light.

Wounds from the Doctor's attack when he pushed them away with his magic...Aeryn knew it wasn't magic, but for now she would call it that, for she had no idea how he had done that. Or how she was able to punch right through the Viridimon's psychic barrier.

Diolan grew more nervous every second and his entire body started to tremble.

Aeryn grabbed her gun and removed the chakun oil cannister from the bottom, replacing it with a new, full one, just in case she was going to need it.

The trio stood motionless still, merely gazing upon their trapped prey.

The Viridimon seemed to be waiting, but for what?

''You can do this! You can do this! You can do this! Come on!'' the Doctor yelled, just before the screwdriver finally gave out and darkness embraced them again.

The wheel had turned and turned, but now it stopped moving as the sonic screwdriver's energy had been depleted.

Aeryn asked herself how she could have found herself in this very situation.

If there were any gods, they would surely hate her. And if it was fate that kept its bargain once more, why now? There were plenty of other times when she had to face a dangerous enemy or threat, but never died. Everytime she survived...only to be killed here? Possessed by some frelling creature with the personality of a child?

Had Crichton's bad luck decided to change strategies and attack her instead? Had it been haunting her, tormenting her, just out of spite for Aeryn leaving him? Or was it his genes that were with Crichton still, inside of her, in her unborn offspring…

Or even worse, her own bad luck that had haunted her all her life. The plague she carried within, her which killed everyone she loved. Aeryn closed her eyes.

''Frell.'' the Doctor finally said when the darkness finally swallowed them whole, and Diolan's breathing became more irratic and faster, catching up with the rhythm of his adrenaline rush.

Strange gurgling sounds were heard at the other side of the cavern, and Aeryn knew what this meant.

The Viridimon was about to unleash its spawn on them.

Where Pilot could do multiple things at multiple times, Aeryn thought, the Viridimon could become multiple things at multiple times.

It could multiply itself, becoming many with only one mind. Infecting all by crawling inside of them, as a little spawn, and taking over their minds from the inside.

And that was what the Viridimon was about to do them.

To Aeryn. Again.

''No.'' Aeryn said to herself in her mind. ''I will not let that happen again.''

She reached for her weapon, knowing exactly what to do.

''Not without a fight.''

She fired on the ceiling of the cavern above the trio, illuminating the cavern for a swift second every time she pulled the trigger.

With every short flash they could see the little tentacles and claws slowly crawl out of the trio's mouths, but as the boulders came crashing down on top of them, crushing them and burying them in rubble, the Doctor grabbed Aeryn's arm and forced her to lower her weapon, without saying a word.

The boulders were heard falling in the distance still, plunging into the water as well, and Aeryn could feel the Doctor's eyes burning into the side of her face, but Aeryn intentionally refused to look back.

''Stand back.'' she merely said, approaching the rusted sewer door as she pushed some buttons on her pulse-weapon and pulled the trigger.

This started a chainreaction in which the pulse-chamber of the weapon would overload.

Aeryn pulled the Doctor into an alcove in the cavern wall beside the door and Diolan did the same on the other side.

''I suggest you cover your ears.'' Aeryn said to the Doctor.

With a loud bang the rusty door was blown out of their way, and the Doctor slowly put his malfunctioning sonic screwdriver back in his pocket, hiding away his anger, but only for the moment.

Aeryn entered first into the grey sewers. The large pipes seemed to go straight through the tunnels, as Aeryn once more looked into a tunnel which stretched on for what seemed miles. And no longer did they need to traverse through darkness for small lights built into the sewer's walls lit up their way along the river of stench.

Aeryn lead Diolan and the Doctor, walking on a road of grey bricks along the dark green water into the opposite direction of the current.

''This is far enough.'' the Doctor said, helping Diolan to the ground to sit down.

He looked at Aeryn with a fury in his eyes.

''What?'' Aeryn said. ''What do you want, Doctor? Is it because I killed those three people back there? Is that it?''

''You say it as if its normal.'' the Doctor said. ''But you still killed three innocent lives!''

''There was no other way, Doctor.'' Aeryn said. ''And you know it!''

The dark green water flowed past them like it always had before, yet the dark mood in this claustrophobic long corridor of bricks and bright yellow light was killing their senses.

''You didn't even try to save them!'' the Doctor said. ''You didn't even try not to kill them!''

''Well, next time you come up with a plan to get us out!'' Aeryn said. ''Something that doesn't involve killing or destroying. Something preferably dealing with music or unbreakable psychic powers!''

''You still don't like my plan then?'' the Doctor asked.

''No, I don't!'' Aeryn said, before calming down. ''No, I don't Doctor. It's too risky. Too much can go wrong. Too much will go wrong...too much has already gone wrong!''

''Stop it!'' Diolan yelled.

The tension was cut. The dangerous mood in the vile air was broken.

''Stop shouting! Fighting each other will only help the Viridimon...not us.''

His heavy breathing slowed down and his voice returned to normal.

''Not us.'' Diolan repeated.

''He's right.'' the Doctor said. ''Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who.''

He looked into the distance, and Aeryn somehow knew he was quoting something he didn't expect the others to know about. She knew that look all too well after living and fighting alongside Crichton for so many years now.

It seemed like a lifetime ago, but it was only weeks ago, months ago, since she left him.

''How did you do that, Doctor?'' Diolan asked.

''What?'' said the Doctor, looking over his shoulder at the wounded boy.

''You said it was a question for later...well now is later, isn't it?''

''Yes it is.'' the Doctor smiled. ''Fire away.''

Diolan looked at him in confusion after the Doctor's last two words, but shrugged that thought away and began speaking.

''How did you push the infected people away when they attacked Aeryn?'' Diolan asked.

''Oh, that was easy.'' the Doctor said, scratching his right ear with his right hand.

Aeryn leaned with her hand against the wall and closed her eyes in frustration. The words that had been said are so easily forgotten by the Doctor, but not by her.

She listened to his arrogant words and amused voice as she put her left gun into her empty right holster, and bottled up her anger so that it could be used on a later date. Which she hoped would come soon.

''It's a matter of will basically.'' the Doctor said, helping Diolan back on his feet as they resumed their pace.

''Telepathic fields...or shields for that matter. Telepathic shields. But a shield can work both ways...''

''You used their own shield against them?'' Diolan said.

''You're a quick learner!'' the Doctor said with his amused high voice, brushing with one swift motion through the boys hair with his hand as a sign of pride.

Diolan didn't like to be treated as a child, for he was no child, but to have someone like the Doctor congratulate you on your knowledge was something to be cherished.

Oh, Aeryn knew how Diolan felt, for in the Doctor's presence, everyone seems tiny.

No, puny is the word.

Aeryn looked away as hers and the Doctor's eyes met again, and in that second she knew he was still thinking about their words as well.

Aeryn had killed three innocent people, for the sake of survival. The Doctor didn't like that, but Aeryn thought: -frell him.

There are always casualties in war. Nothing can change that.

Not even the Doctor.

Several minutes later, what seemed like an eternity, they finally reached the end of the tunnel, encountering a solid brick wall with but a small opening for the water to flow through.

A small bridge now connected to the other side of the river-like sewer, which only worsened their situation, for they now faced a dilemma.

They had encountered another fork in the road.

Two ladders, one on either side of the sewers, both leading towards a hatch in the tunnel's ceiling.

For it to lead to the surface immediately was unlikely, for they were still too deep underground, but it would be a good step into the right direction.

But what direction? Left or right?

Last time their decision not to go back to where they had traversed before, lead them, first to a blocked passage-way which was too narrow to walk through, and secondly right into the hands of the Viridimon.

Where would these ladders take them? To salvation or damnation? Or both?

''Are you backing away already, Aeryn?'' the Doctor joked slightly, piercing into her eyes with his own deep glare. ''There will always be risk. We just have to accept that and move on.''

''No victory without sacrifice.'' Aeryn said. ''I've heard that before...''

''That's what Solem always used to say.'' Diolan said, not knowing he was speaking it out loud.

''Well, he wasn't the first, let me tell you that.'' the Doctor said. ''But we have to choose our path. Again.''

''We need navigation. Directions. Something to know where we are and where we should go next.'' Diolan said smart.

''Well, thanks to Hagros,'' the Doctor said. ''We've got nothing like that. No devices. No scouts. No help whatsoever.''

''He did give me this.'' Aeryn suddenly said, revealing a map from her pocket.

The Doctor glanced at the old parchment only once before freaking out.

''No.'' he said. ''No way. Did he give you that? No way!''

''He did.'' Aeryn said. ''He put it in my pocket just as you were leaving. Looks like he wanted to help us after all.''

''Why didn't you tell us you had it?'' Diolan asked.

''Did I need to?'' Aeryn said.

''Good man, Hagros!'' said the Doctor grabbing the map out of Aeryn's hands, before Aeryn swiftly took it back. ''Good man!''

''Where do you think we are, Doctor?'' Diolan asked, looking at the map, which displayed all the roads and houses and land marks above the ground.

The Doctor spoke of his calculations and incredible sense of direction, before confessing he was lying and he had no clue were they were. He could only guess where to go next, and he chose the ladder on the other side of the sewers. He already walked across the bridge, over the current of poisonous sewage and laid his hand on the iron ladder.

''My guesses are usually right.'' the Doctor said. ''But like always, Aeryn will probably choose the other ladder...''

''Well, you are right, Doctor.'' Aeryn said, not able to resist a defiant smile. ''I say we climb that ladder.''

She pointed at the ladder beside her.

''Fair enough.'' the Doctor said, as he started to rummage through the pockets of his coat. ''There's no point in delaying anyway.''

''Delaying what?'' Diolan asked confused.

''You know the drill.'' the Doctor said, throwing two strange black boxes into Aeryn and Diolan's hands.

''Those are walkie talkies. Communicators. That's how we'll be able to keep track of each other's activities.''

''We'll do the radio's, and you'll do the tower?'' Aeryn confirmed professionally, clutching the iron bar of the ladder with her right hand, and clutching the walkie talkie with her left.

''Exactly.'' the Doctor said. ''Head to the surface and find the bar and find as many radio's as you can find.''

''I know the plan, Doctor.'' Aeryn said.

''Are we splitting up?'' Diolan said.

''You could come with me if you'd like.'' the Doctor said to Diolan. ''But perhaps its best if you help Aeryn. She's going to need your help.''

''And why do you say that?'' Aeryn said irritated.

''Experience.'' the Doctor said arrogant and amused, taunting her with a witty glare and Aeryn was unsure if he was joking.

''Is this it, Doctor?'' Aeryn said. ''Is this the last I will see of you?''

The Doctor tilted his head to the side in a strange but funny gesture as he began to climb the ladder.

''Don't count on it.'' he said.

He's unarmed. Defenceless. Lost.

Not even his magical sonic screwdriver could save him now.

He is all alone in the darkness now. Their saviour.

She once asked herself a question.

Would she believe in hope?

Would she believe in the Doctor?

The Doctor and his silly music?

She was ashamed to admit it, but this time, she would have to say yes.

And that thought twirled through her mind as she watched the Doctor climb the ladder and open the hatch.

''Goodbye, Doctor.'' Diolan said.

''Now why do you say that?'' replied the Doctor. ''You'll see me again! I'll be back before you know it...''

He hesitated for a moment.

''Back before breakfast!'' he cried, correcting himself. ''Back before breakfast! That's what I should've said! I'll be back before breakfast! HAHA!''

Laughing at his own joke his smiling head disappeared into the hatch in the ceiling, before his white shoes finally followed.

And he was gone.

* * *

''There it is, Captain Gladius.'' sub-officer Malleo said, pointing at the viewscreen.

''Zoom in.'' Gladius said, standing fierce and tall in the centre of the Carrier's command deck and bridge.

The viewscreen zoomed in on the tiny dot which they discovered to be the asteroid they were seeking.

Gladius examined the asteroid and the settlement which was built on it after the asteroid was granted an atmosphere and soil ground by Kalish scientists many many years ago.

Old reports and logs speak of wars over this outpost in the Uncharted Territories.

Revolution, rebellion and politics and many changes in leadership, ranging from Scarran to Peacekeeper and eventually Traskan lordship.

Now Monarch Lyan Nektar was lord and master over this puny little asteroid, yet he has lost it, and will soon see it be blown to dust in front of his very eyes.

''How many salvo's would it take to destroy this settlement, sub-officer Malleo?'' Gladius asked. ''How many do you think?''

''At least ten, sir.'' sub-officer Malleo spoke. ''Definitely ten. No more. No less.''

''Good.'' Gladius said. ''Then prepare ten salvos to be fired upon arrival.''

''Yes, sir.''

* * *

The silence which lingered after the Doctor left was terrifying, and for a moment, Aeryn didn't know what to do.

Somehow she had always counted on the Doctor's support and wise words in this short time she has known him, but now in his absence, words lacked her. Even ideas were hard to grasp.

Aeryn had to pull herself together and realised she needed to be strong in front of the weakened Diolan.

''Let's go.'' she finally said, and started to climb the ladder, not knowing what danger would befall her once she would open the hatch, but that was just a risk she had to take.


	14. The Void

Why did he leave them?

The Doctor had abandoned them, and now their faith was put to the test, and Aeryn did not like that one bit.

First he had questioned her decisions, not approving the fact that Aeryn had killed the three infected people when they attacked them in the caverns, and now he leaves without saying anything, leaving her in charge.

She had done it wrong in his eyes, and yet he grants her the ability to make more of those wrong decisions.

No. Even worse.

He had given her a second chance.

Or perhaps he had faith in her...

Frell. Why did this have to be so hard?

Her faith in the Doctor wavered, yet realising the Doctor had faith in her, only made her doubt her waverings, for it gave her confidence in herself again.

''Let's take a look at that wound of yours.'' Aeryn said, forcing Diolan to sit down and roll up the leg of his trousers to reveal the red wound on his right knee.

She examined the wound for a swift second, before standing up and walking into the kitchen of this house.

''Here.'' Aeryn said as she returned, throwing a piece of cloth she had just held under a cold tap into Diolan's hands. ''Clean it up. It looks all right, but there's still a chance that it might get infected.''

''It's nothing?'' Diolan asked, touching the wound on his knee, feeling a burning pain.

''Just a scratch.'' Aeryn reassured him, taking the cloth out of Diolan's hands and cleaning the wound herself. ''Nothing fatal.''

Aeryn and Diolan had been walking through an upper section of sewers for nearly fifteen minutes before they found a ladder, hidden in a rocky alcove in the wall, which lead to another hatch in the ceiling.

Upon entering, they found themselves in a strange house, and although the setting of everything was exactly the same as in Ferril's house, it was nothing like it.

Everything had been painted either light blue or navy blue, and all the furniture had been decorated with a strange pattern of stars and ships.

Apparantly the person who had lived in this house prior to the attack had a remarkable obsession with outer space.

Miniature space-craft were found everywhere and even the tapestry on the wall had a pattern of space-ships on it, but even that was barely visible as all four walls were decorated with paintings and photographs of various types of crafts, ranging from one-man-fighters to entire cargo-transports.

Diolan told Aeryn how he thought the man who used to live here to be a retired traveller, or merchant or travelling merchant, missing the old days of adventure and excitement. Something he was too old to experience nowadays.

But Aeryn smiled and shook her head, for she pictured in her mind a woman, longing nostalgic for the times when she used to be the scourge of the galaxy, until another picture dawned in her mind. An image of an old woman, settling down after her many adventures on this tiny, comfortable asteroid to form a family with her one true love; a family with seven children, and in her mind Aeryn could see them all in front of her, like ghosts. A lifetime of happiness and sadness right in front of her very eyes.

''We should get to the roof,'' Aeryn said. ''determine our position and find that bar.''

Diolan nodded in agreement.

''I'll be gone for about a minute, so don't make any sounds unless you really have to.'' said Aeryn. ''Don't draw any attention to yourself. Stealth is the key factor here. The element of surprise is what keeps us alive.''

Aeryn stopped talking, realising she was beginning to sound just like the Doctor, and for a moment her eyes wandered to the walkie-talkie, which was left on the table...

''He'll contact us.'' Diolan said, trying to comfort Aeryn. ''He will.''

''You're right.'' lied Aeryn. ''Just be quiet, okay? I'll be back shortly.''

She left the room and headed upstairs, without making a single sound.

The plan was simple.

The Doctor would get to the radio-tower and air his music. Aeryn and Diolan would then turn on the radio's they would have to steal from abandoned houses and put on the roof of all the houses surrounding the bar, where the Viridimon was.

The music, if played loud enough, would fill the Viridimon's mind and would make him unable to think of anything else.

The telepathic field and all of the Viridimon's mental connections would be severed, leaving the Viridimon defenceless and alone.

A much easier target to be handled, but still not to be underestimated.

Aeryn looked at the sky, enjoying the sight of the stars which she missed dearly, standing on the rooftop, bathed in moonlight.

The Viridimon's soldiers were looking for them. The monster with a thousand eyes. She could almost feel his gaze fall upon her, but she did not fear the Viridimon.

Aeryn had many fears, but he was not listed among them.

She feared death. She feared love. She feared imprisonment. She feared a lifetime of hoping for a rescue that would never come, or much too late.

Memories that were not her own faded into her mind. The old Crichton who had haunted her on Valldon reappeared in her eye-sight, only to be ignored and forgotten when Aeryn blinked and gazed down on the settlement once more, trying to separate reality from illusion once more.

She held Hagros's map in front of her and compared it to the roads and buildings in the settlement, before finally discovering that their next move would be to go south.

She couldn't help but wonder what was on the Doctor's mind right now, what decisions he would make and how he would find his way back to the surface and to the tower he had assigned himself to conquer.

She headed back downstairs, climbing down the fire-escape and crawling back into the house through the window, where she found Diolan standing beneath the staircase awaiting her arrival.

''I know where we are.'' said Aeryn to the young Sebacean man. ''And I know where we must go.''

''When do we go?'' asked Diolan .

''Now.'' Aeryn replied.

She passed Diolan in the hall and grabbed her leather vest she had left hanging down the back of a chair.

''Shouldn't we wait for the Doctor to contact us?'' Diolan asked.

Aeryn hesitated before answering.

''It was his decision to split up.'' Aeryn said. ''He knows the plan and knows what we have to do. We don't need to wait for his signal.''

''Are you sure?'' Diolan asked.

''Yes.'' Aeryn replied.

They stepped on to the doormat and slowly unlocked the white, heavy, wooden front door.

Aeryn slowly opened it and peeked around the small opening to look outside.

''Can you run?'' she asked.

''Yes.'' Diolan said. ''I think I can.''

''Then run.'' Aeryn said. ''Now!''

* * *

The Viridimon's legions were patrolling the hazy, wet and dark streets extensively in search for the Doctor, and Aeryn and Diolan had to hide and manouvre through shadows and dark alleyways, and had to avoid stepping into the bright light of the street lanterns to remain unseen.

Aeryn remembered herself running through these shadows with the Doctor not long ago, before they were forced to hide in the caverns. Oh, what a waste of time that was. A total fiasco.

''Let's keep going.'' Diolan said and pointed at the other side of the street.

Aeryn was reminded of Diolan's presence, and the fact she had not said anything to him since they left the house.

Silence was good, yes, but to ignore him, to say nothing to him, was something else.

The Doctor had said that she was going to need his help. He forced Aeryn to take leadership, to guide this boy, to safeguard him.

But Aeryn realised she had nothing in common with this boy. He seemed so young, so naive, and so weak.

They were both Sebaceans, yes, but Aeryn didn't know if Diolan ever served in Peacekeeper ranks.

She wanted to ask him, but her mouth wouldn't open. The question was buried into her mind and she forced herself to focus on the situation at hand. She forced herself not to say anything to this kid.

To question meant she would be confessing her lack of knowledge, or in other words, her stupidity.

Aeryn shook her head.

That was the Peacekeeper way.

The old way.

Aeryn looked at Diolan and was reminded of herself at that age, only she was being trained to become the perfect pilot and soldier, and Diolan was not. He was here. An ex-member of Solem's assassination squad.

What did a young kid such as Diolan do in a group like that?

More questions and possible answers riddled Aeryn's mind as she gazed down the streets.

She signed Diolan to stop walking, to hide in the shadows, for Aeryn saw the bar right in front of her, guarded by at least three perfectly marching squads of infected civilians.

''Don't move.'' Aeryn said, looking around to find their objective.

They were looking for the houses surrounding the bar, not the bar itself.

And as the legions marched by, unaware of the two figures in the shadows, Aeryn signed Diolan to follow her.

But he wouldn't move.

''Diolan, come on!'' Aeryn said.

He kept shaking his head, resisting Aeryn's orders.

''We have to get in there!'' he said. ''The bar has an incredible soundsystem which we can use! We don't have to find those radios in all those houses!''

The bar seemed so close and seemed to tempt them to enter. Aeryn's hand trembled, resisting the urge to reach for her conceiled weapons.

She remembered the white barrier which knocked her down. The Viridimon's psychic shielding which reflected damage away from his soldiers.

''No.'' Aeryn said. ''We can't. The bar is crawling with infected. Going in there means suicide.''

''I have to get inside...'' Diolan said.

''We both made a promise.'' Aeryn said. ''We would both go with the Doctor's plan. He's counting on us. So we'll do our jobs and we'll find those radios! Just like he told us to do!''

The Doctor's plan.

His silly, stupid plan which would get them all killed.

The only thing Aeryn could believe in at this point. The only thing which could convince Diolan not to throw away his life in some stupid urge to charge into that bar. Why? Why was he so keen to get in there?

Aeryn and Diolan now moved from house to house, crawling from alley-way to alley-way and smashing windows when picking locks would not work.

And there was still no sign of any trouble.

No green eyes which awaited in the shadows or behind the doors to get them.

It gave them hope.

It made them believe in themselves, and that they were actually going to be able to pull this off.

No longer was being alone a weakness. It was their strength.

The Viridimon couldn't find them if they would remain in the darkness. It would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Where would he start to look first? Even with its vast army of infected at his command the Viridimon would still need hours upon hours to finally find them, and then there's still a labyrinth of tunnels and caverns beneath the surface, where Hagros and his group of survivors were hiding.

Aeryn and Diolan were beginning to feel much better about themselves.

Hope was rekindled...but was eventually crushed down as they discovered that not many people on this asteroid actually owned a radio.

Where they expected to find many, they could only find one. Not nearly enough to drown the Viridimon in noise.

''Frell!'' Aeryn cried, kicking against the large metallic box in frustration.

Where moments ago she was beginning to finally feel good towards the Doctor's plan, now she cursed it like before.

''I knew this would happen.'' Aeryn said. ''I told him, but he wouldn't listen! They never listen!''

In his hands Diolan still held the Doctor's walkie talkie, hoping for a reply.

They had searched every corner, every creepy attic and every smelly basement, but found nothing but the abandoned possessions of wealthy merchants and their wives.

''Doctor, can you hear me?'' Diolan kept saying, pressing the large button on the side of the device. ''Are you there, Doctor? We need your help! There aren't enough radios! Doctor? Please respond!''

As Diolan held his ear against the device, he could still hear nothing but a distant crackling.

His and Aeryn's final hope was gone.

They were really alone now. They had never felt this abandoned and desperate before.

Aeryn grabbed her own walkie-talkie from her belt and started screaming into the device as she pressed the button.

''Doctor!'' she yelled. ''Answer me! Let us know you're still alive! Doctor!''

''Keep your voice down!'' Diolan said, quickly moving towards the window and carefully sticking his head through the curtains to look out into the street.

''We need radio's.'' Aeryn said. ''Radio's we don't have. Radio's they don't have!''

She calmed down and sighed, feeling another urge to kick that radio on the floor; the only thing it was good for now; an object to kick in order to ventilate anger and frustration.

''There's only one way to get the job done.'' Diolan said, removing his head from the white curtains. ''Only one way to keep our promise. To make the plan work.''

He looked into Aeryn's eyes, almost begging for her permission, and Aeryn knew exactly what he wanted to hear.

He wanted to go into the bar.

''That's suicide Diolan!'' Aeryn said, but Diolan wouldn't listen.

''I need to get in there!'' he said to her.

''Why?'' Aeryn finally asked. ''Why do you desperately want to kill yourself? Enslave your frelling mind?!''

''My brother is in there.'' Diolan said. ''I need to find him. He could still be alive. I need to find Baelen.''

That name left Aeryn somehow speechless and without words, so she said nothing, and all she could think of was Mairic and Baelen in the bar's storage-room, shot by the leader they had followed blindly. The leader they never doubted.

They believed him instantly when he claimed he had returned. He had survived worse, so it was no surprise to see him alive still.

But they were wrong. Their faith had been misplaced, and the Viridimon took advantage of their blind hope.

He took advantage of their faith and killed them.

''He's dead, Diolan...'' Aeryn could barely say, before trying to clear her voice which she had suddenly lost.

''What?'' Diolan asked surprised.

''He's dead. I saw it. He was killed.'' Aeryn said.

''No.'' said Diolan, not believing her words. ''No way. I know he is alive. I just know it.''

''Diolan...''

''No! He's out there...I just know so...''

''I saw him...he was shot by Solem...he and Mairic were killed...''

''NO!'' Diolan cried. ''I refuse to believe he's dead. He's my brother...he's my brother...''

Tears welled up in Diolan's eyes, and Aeryn could see the clash of emotions in his eyes, fear and anger fighting to get a hold of him.

''We have always been together. Since birth, when we were found on the doorstep of Jaleeth's house, who raised us. Me and Baelen. Tobian and Masden she used to call us, but we changed our names when we joined Solem's squad, to rid us of our past. Of that old demented woman, who wouldn't let us leave. She wouldn't let us find our true parents...''

Diolan cried in anger, reminded of Jaleeth, the woman who raised them and loved them, but ruined their lives.

''Baelen left to find our parents, but she wouldn't let me follow him. I left a year later, and I finally found him...he had joined Solem's Assassination Squad...and I wanted to join too. Together, among Peacekeepers, we could find our real parents. We will find our parents...I just...I just need to find him again...''

''Diolan...'' Aeryn said, hesitating to interrupt his sad tale with a crackling, low voice drenched in sympathy. ''Diolan, I saw him die. I saw him get shot. I clearly remember seeing the bolt of light hit his armour...''

''Armour?'' Diolan said. ''Armour, you say?''

That word seemed to fill him with joy and hope.

''Baelen always wore his full outfit when he didn't need to.'' Diolan said. ''That armour could have well saved his life!''

''Diolan, look at what you're saying!'' Aeryn said. ''You want to risk your life to save someone who could possibly well be dead already!''

''It's the only way.'' Diolan said. ''I want to do it. I can do both things at once. The radios. My brother. Don't you understand why I need to go?''

Aeryn understood perfectly well.

* * *

She had made a decision.

A decision she knew the Doctor would not have approved, but he would just have to accept that, for he was the one who left her in charge.

And there was nothing Aeryn could have done to stop Diolan. He was determined to get into that bar, even if it meant his own death.

Aeryn recognised that bravery and foolish valour. The desire to save the ones you love without caring for your own life.

Sacrifice of one's own life.

Aeryn closed her eyes and turned away from the window.

She was alone in the dark now, with only hope to guide her.

The Doctor was still alive.

Diolan would succeed.

She had to believe in this. She had to believe in them.

For there was no other way to survive.

Nothing else to do.

She kicked that radio again, crying in frustration, knowing she had chosen to be helpless. She had chosen to believe in the impossible, not knowing whether the plan had failed already, or was about to be set in motion. Not knowing whether Diolan was already caught and infected.

Not knowing whether the Doctor was dead or dying or lost in the endless caverns, where only one wrong decision could leave him walking straight into a tunnel leading into outer space.

Or captured by the Viridimon, his unknown wisdom absorbed by the creature and used against them.

Diolan could very well be walking straight into a trap.

And Aeryn suddenly pictured the Doctor in her mind, gazing at her with venomous green eyes.

Then she'd know all was lost.

Aeryn's thoughts dwelled on the tower the Doctor spoke of. The radio tower which connected this asteroid to the outside world. To ships and stars and beyond.

She looked upon Hagros's map and gazed upon the little square symbol which symbolized this tower. It was not far away from the bar. Aeryn could still make it. Finish the job the Doctor started; the job he could still be doing, if he hadn't been captured already.

But there was no way to know. He would still not answer her calls.

Why would he have given them communicators if they don't frelling work?!

Aeryn threw the device on the floor and sat down on the floor, curling up with her back against the wall as she tried to pull herself together.

She only needed a moment.

A moment of silence. A moment to remind her that none of this mattered. It didn't.

How many evils had she fought and slain already? How many times had she encountered some alien lifeform which wanted to either kill her, her friends, or the entire universe.

Many, many times.

Ancient dark entities, intellant viruses, Peacekeepers and Scarrans alike, monsters and aliens and terrorists and assassins.

She had all faced them and she still lived. She was scarred and traumatized, but she was still alive.

If only she could see the future. That way she'd know whether she had made the right decision. Or the wrong decision.

Aeryn checked her pulse-weapon, pulling out the oil-cartridge only to realise it was still full. She quickly put it back in its holster before standing up and grabbing the walkie-talkie from the floor, hoping she hadn't damaged it by throwing it away.

She put it against her ear and heard the distant crackling, like always, and she knew it was still functioning.

For a moment she considered calling out his name again.

''Doctor?'' she wanted to ask, hoping that this time he would answer, but she changed her mind and slowly hung the communicator on her belt.

''Aeryn?'' a voice suddenly said.

For a moment she thought she had imagined it, thinking she was fooled by the sound of the storm outside, gaining in strength as it sent a soft haze of rain tapping against the window, accompanied by a howling wind.

''Aeryn, are you there?'' the Doctor asked.

Aeryn slowly reached for the walkie-talkie and put it against her mouth and ear.

''I'm here.'' Aeryn said.


	15. The Lion

A strange collection of stones caught Diolan's eyes the first moment he stepped foot in the little shop.

With difficulty, he managed to open one of the windows and climb inside, ignoring his gut instinct which told him to turn on the lights, before he headed upstairs.

He ran up the old, wooden staircase and opened the door which lead into the room which should have a direct sight at the bar beside the shop.

He hadn't actually expected Aeryn to give in to his request, let alone help him on his journey to a probable early death, but she did.

She told him everything what had happened after they were attacked in the bar. Everything Diolan didn't know about Solem, Mairic, and his brother Baelen.

He was ashamed even thinking back to the moment he chose to run. Flee. Hide.

But he would make up for his cowardice now. He would save his brother. He would save them all.

The Doctor was right: he who runs away fights again.

And he was fighting.

Courage filled him as he pictured himself fighting until the very end. Until all enemies surrounded him and there was no way out, until death would take him.

Diolan swallowed and shook that image out of his head, returning to his duties at hand.

Aeryn had told him to explore the bar's surroundings first. Know your enemy's location and plan.

Be prepared for anything.

Her advice was good advice, and Diolan would not forget it.

His decision to go into the bar alone may have been a rash one, but that did not mean he wasn't going to do it properly, and try his best.

He looked out that window and gazed upon the bar's brick walls, almost trying to pierce straight through those stones and gaze inside.

''Baelen...'' said Diolan. ''I'm almost there brother. Don't worry. Don't lose hope. I'm nearly there...''

* * *

Hearing the Doctor cringe and cry in fury and frustration somehow satisfied Aeryn.  
''I turn my back for one second and this is what I get?''

''Doctor...'' Aeryn said.

''I...am...baffled...really'' said the Doctor.

His voice was slightly distorted as it traveled across the frequency, through the air, was received by the walkie-talkie and arrived into Aeryn's ear.

''...but please...please tell me...why..on earth...why did you not stop him? Why?''

''Doctor!'' Aeryn cried, pushing the little device against her ear and mouth as she sat down on the floor. ''This...this was something he had to do. For himself. And I think nothing would have stopped him from doing it.

You of all people should understand that.''

''Well, yes, but...'' the Doctor tried to say.

''We all have our secrets, Doctor.'' said Aeryn. ''Diolan had his. Letting him go was my decision, my responsibility.''

There was a pause as Aeryn heard the Doctor scratching his neck.

''The radios.'' he said. ''You shouldn't have given up so easily.''

''We didn't.'' Aeryn replied. ''That's the whole point.''

And for once, the Doctor knew of nothing to say.

* * *

The rain grew stronger in this neverending night. Clouds gathered above the settlement, like flies to a moth, only occasionally letting starlight fall upon the asteroid's surface. Nights lasted longer as the asteroid's turn was slow, but this meant days would last longer as well.  
The settlement on the asteroid was created by Kalish scientists many years ago, when testing their experimental science and machinery for a long fifty years. That's how long it took to enforce the asteroid's gravitational pull to let oxygen and all other necessary gasses stick to the asteroid's surface. Trees were then planted. Houses were built. Infrastructure established and a base of command.

This asteroid became their base of operations. This lonely asteroid, which the Kalish chose for its perfect line of orbit around the system's star. Not too cold, not too warm. Perfect for colonisation.

The colony was built and it florished for many years under Scarran rule, until war after war and conflict after conflict scarred the asteroid and its inhabitants more times then they could have ever counted.

But no more.

All those years of contruction, of research and terraforming. All those years...would now be turned into a giant waste of time, with only one push of a button. One command. One voice.

Captain Gladius observed the beautiful, bloodred ring with an exaggerated enthusiasm, seeming to intentionally ignore the small asteroid visible from the window, in the distance, growing larger and larger as they approached it.

''Captain Gladius...'' said Lyan Nektar. Gladius looked up at the small Monarch with the black ponytail and green robes decorated with ancient diamonds who stood in front of him suddenly.

How had he entered his private chambers, where Gladius had locked himself for at least an hour?

''Monarch...'' Gladius said, intentionally suggesting an air of sarcasm in his voice as he pretended to welcome the Monarch into his private chambers with open arms. He made no secret of his disliking towards this small person who claimed leadership over a settlement. Leadership he had not earned, but simply bought some years ago from the Peacekeepers.

''Captain...you must reconsider...'' Nektar spoke, blinking almost painfully after every word. Every second. ''There are people down there...innocent lives which are about to die! Does this not concern you?''

''I'm afraid not, your Highness...'' said Gladius. ''But I suggest you leave my chambers right now or prepare to face the consequences...''

Nektar backed away, almost crawling in front of the captain's feet as he begged for mercy.

''Captain, please!'' Nektar spoke. ''Are you blind, not to see the blood which is about to be spilled here?'' Gladius drove Nektar down the marble stairs, where the small Monarch slipped on to the red mat.

''I have seen it many times now, in my head.'' Gladius spoke. ''And I neither dislike or like it, but seeing the situation as it is, and seeing the orders I have been given, I see no other way. And not even your pathetic pleas will change that fact.''

''Captain, please do not kill me...please! You are a Peacekeeper! Keep peace! Don't destroy!'' Monarch Nektar cried, crawling in the dust at Gladius's feet.

''You pathetic little worm...'' Captain Gladius said, seeming to ignore his words, threatening to kick him, but Nektar swiftly avoided his foot. ''You are a Monarch! Act like one!''

Monarch Nektar dried his tears as he crawled away into a chair with velvet red cushions, treating it like a vital hiding place where the captain could not reach him.

The captain backed off, shaking his head as he looked down on this pathetic child...begging for scraps. Begging for a second chance, which Peacekeepers rarely give.

''I will make you watch how your puny settlement will blow to dust.'' Gladius whispered, before climbing up the small stairs again which lead to his throne and chamber, leaving Nektar to cry all alone.

* * *

Aeryn avoided the lights of the streets as she headed down narrower streets and alley-ways. Large, beautiful houses were replaced by tall, small flats as she left the centre of the town.  
Old manors, which were now but echoes of their former beauty, passed Aeryn's eyes. These houses were once claimed to be haunted, but now it was the streets who were haunted, and those houses were the only places which seemed safe, and that is why Aeryn chose to hide in them.

The door was heavy and surprisingly unlocked. Aeryn avoided getting trapped in the layer of webbing which now lingered like an ancient and thick layer of dust (dust, which by the way, was also there, giving Aeryn a hard time to breathe at times).

''Doctor...'' said Aeryn, putting her lips against the walkie-talkie and her finger on the button. She gazed out the window as she headed upstairs again, almost as if acting instinctively. ''I can see the tower, but where are you?'' Now the Doctor was the only company she had as she fled through the shadows, avoiding capture and a prison of thoughts, instead of Diolan, but somehow Aeryn felt...disappointed.

She had longed to hear the Doctor's hopeful voice again, expecting answers, solutions, salvation, but all she got was more promises.

Promises of life, death and music.

''I'm in the building beside the tower,'' the Doctor answered through the walkie-talkie. He sounded hasty and distressed. ''busy...rewiring...the installation...for what I am about to do...''

Aeryn heard the Doctor grunt and moan, crying out loud whenever a surge of electricity hit his fingers, and Aeryn couldn't help but picture the Doctor lying under some strange, complex console wearing his geeky glasses, covered in wiring as he keeps on bumping his head against the table.

''What are you doing, Doctor?'' asked Aeryn.

''Well, at this point,'' said the Doctor, grunting in frustration and suffering. ''I'm adjusting the installation's specifics so that I will be able to play my 'frelling' music, as you like to call it.''

Aeryn smiled.

''Will you be done before Diolan...does what needs to be done?'' she asked.

''I'm working as fast as I can, officer Sun.'' the Doctor replied witty, using his all-time favourite and amusing high pitched voice again. ''If you weren't there interrupting me all the time, I'd be done a lot faster!''

The Doctor returned to his serious voice again, sighing before saying: ''And don't you worry about Diolan.''

Aeryn swallowed. ''All he needs to do is turn on that radio, turn up the volume to as high as it gets, and tune it to the right frequency!'' The Doctor's high pitched voice slipped back into the walkie-talkie.

''Even a chimpansee can do that! With a little training, obviously.''

''I wouldn't know, Doctor.'' Aeryn replied sighing, reminding the Doctor, as she had done countless times to Crichton in the past (before eventually giving up) that all those jokes and references were wasted on her.

''Of course you wouldn't.'' said the Doctor, sounding as if apologizing.

* * *

Diolan hung from the metal ladder with great pain to his stomach and hands.  
His jump had not gone entirely well.

He had planned to reach the metal staircase/fire-escape so that he would be able to enter the bar through the window, but his sweaty hands slipped and his stomach hit one of the steps.

He hung with great difficulty for at least another minute on the ladder, refusing to fall down to the ground (Diolan looked down and saw a smelly, big dumpster right below him, filled with garbage long left and never picked up) and he began swinging back and forth to provide the thrust he needed to get back up again.

He pulled himself up the metal ladder and grabbed the next step, and another, until he found a metal floor beneath his feet.

He carefully touched the bruises on his stomach, examining if he was bleeding or not, and went on. He reached into his pocket and revealed a knife, which he used to open the window from the outside, using it as a crowbar, before he was able to push it open with his hands and strength. Still he tried to remain absolutely silent, especially when he finally entered this most dreaded of places.

Diolan felt strange, as if he had just entered a church or temple. Some kind of strange air of ill-omen lingered, filling his lungs with an unknown fear, but strangely enough this only strengthened him to be even more cautious than before.

Diolan waited so that his eyes could adjust to the darkness before looking around.

No green eyes welcomed him. He had done well so far.

* * *

Aeryn wondered how things were going for Diolan, knowing that he had turned off his walkie-talkie, so she was unable to contact him and ask.  
Yet something did not feel right.

''Are you sure this line is secure?'' Aeryn asked. It took a moment for the Doctor to reply.

''Yes.'' he replied. ''I made sure of it. Why'd you ask?''

''I don't know.'' she replied ominously. ''It all just feels...too easy. Something is bound to go wrong, but I can't see what.''

''Why would you say it is going too easy?'' the Doctor asked, annoying Aeryn with too many questions.

''Because I still haven't bumped into one of the Viridimon's hunters, which I know I should have by now.'' Aeryn answered somewhat disgruntled.

''Calm down, Aeryn.'' the Doctor said. ''The Viridimon is a child. Depending on the knowledge of others, not his own. And therefore, he is not very creative. And without being creative, you can never find that needle in the haysack. Which is what we are right now. For all he knows we could be anywhere right now.''

A surge of electricity interrupted the Doctor's words, but he merely continued as if nothing had happened.

''He lost us in those caverns. He tried to chase me through the sewers, but failed, and lost me too.''

''He chased you through the sewers?'' Aeryn asked.

''Oh, just a bit of fun.'' the Doctor replied.

Finally some answers, Aeryn thought to herself, before asking: ''Is that why you didn't answer our calls?''

''Yes.'' the Doctor stated simply. ''I was busy.''

Somehow Aeryn felt this was the time, and perhaps the only time, she would be getting the answers she had been longing to hear.

''Answer me this, Doctor,'' Aeryn said. ''And try to do it in a way I can understand...''

''All right...'' the Doctor said curious and amused.

''How did you rescue me from the Viridimon, back in the bar...and how did you...''

''One question at a time!'' the Doctor cried. ''Calm down... start again...''

''How did you rescue me from the Viridimon in the bar?''

Aeryn remembered the kiss she and the Doctor shared, but was too embarrassed to bring it up.

''Oh, I remember! The kiss! Right, hang on! Let me think...'' the Doctor said, dropping his equipment, causing another brief and loud surge of electricity which, Aeryn believed, to enflame a part of the Doctor's coat.

He had to put it out before he could continue.

''I used my...limited...mental powers to enter your mind...strengthen your defences against the creature...and finally I kissed you...(the Doctor cleared his throat) luring the Viridimon's spawn into my body...but it had already melded with your mind, and severing body from mind is never a good thing...so it died and you were freed.''

The Doctor spoke of this action as if it was the most common activity in the universe, with such ease and nonchalance it confused Aeryn, and took some time for her to remember she had another question she had wanted to ask him.

A cry of pain from the Doctor at the other end of the line reminded Aeryn of this.

''My second question, Doctor...'' Aeryn said, again calling upon all her courage to keep herself talking.

''Hit me.'' the Doctor said.

Again his witty nonchalance scared Aeryn. Could this man never be serious? Never for once act normal?

''In the caverns, one of the three hunters jumped me, but I was able to hit through her telepathic shield. How could I have done that?''

''Simple.'' said the Doctor. ''The Viridimon has no idea of what his presence is doing to the body it possesses. He wants them to run at incredible speeds. Fight with incredible strengths, and yes, they are capable of that. We are all capable of that...but not for long. Pain and fear warn our bodies not to do those things, as it damages our bodies and organs. So when the Viridimon jumped at you, unaware of the damage it would cause, it exhausted the energy of his host, and therefore also the blood that drives the Viridimon's spawn. It was unable to create a strong telepathic field as before, and therefore you could punch right through it, with an excellent right hook if I might say so myself!''

''Thanks.'' Aeryn said.

''Anytime.'' replied the Doctor.

Another surge of electricity deafened Aeryn before the Doctor spoke again.

''I just finished.'' he said.

Aeryn calmly awaited for more details.

''It's supposed to be working, but it isn't. Something's wrong. Something's definitely wrong.''

''Doctor?'' asked Aeryn, not knowing what he was about to do. ''Doctor?''

* * *

Diolan cautiously moved through the shadows of the storage-room and carefully opened the door, leading to a small den where a staircase would lead him either up or down. Diolan hesitated, before choosing to go up. The steps of the stair cracked loudly under his feet, but Diolan hoped no-one would hear it. He swiftly quickened his pace and tried to make himself lighter, until he reached the door to the next level.  
He put his ear against the door and listened for a couple of minutes before he decided to open it, for there was only silence.

And he gladly realised he was right.

There was no-one in the room he entered, a bedroom with a large bed and two tall closets on either side of it. No-one except...

Diolan's heart jumped into his throat as he saw Solem standing there, with his back turned towards him.

He stood like a statue in the centre of the room, seemingly gazing towards a painting of a purple star descending upon a green, peaceful meadow at night.

Diolan could not move, freezing in fear as he recognised his former leader. The man who accepted him into his family of Peacekeepers when all the others did not want him. Because of Solem, Diolan was able to join Baelen's side, leading into the happiest days of his life, together with his brother and new family of friends.

Why did he not turn around? Had he not heard him come in? How could he have? He was breathing louder than a Plokavian boar! Why did he not turn around?

Diolan now dared to approach him, for something was wrong. In Solem's case, it would be something good.

He still did not move or turn or twitch or anything as Diolan came closer, still fearing to speak. What if the Viridimon still possessed him? What if he was about to step straight into the hands of the enemy?

But his hands and legs wouldn't stop. He had to know what was going on with his former friend. The man he idolized and would have followed until the end.

An end he was about to face...

Diolan looked over Solem's shoulder and saw his eyes. No longer green, but normal blue.

But no light shined in those eyes. No life, and Diolan did not know why.

''Solem?'' he whispered.

''What are you doing here!'' a voice suddenly bellowed behind him, however it was immediately turned into a whisper.

* * *

Louic heard someone go upstairs; someone who was too silent, too cautious, and definitely not part of the Viridimon's army, heading up to his bedroom.  
Silently he followed, only to see some strange and harmless, helpless kid standing next to Solem.

''Don't you know where you are?'' Louic spoke, seeing the normal eyes of Diolan. ''Don't you know what danger you reside in right now?!''

''I know, but I'm still going to do what I must do, whatever the danger.'' Diolan said.

''Whatever the danger...'' Louic repeated. ''You sound brave, foolish boy! Go back to where you were hiding!''

He grabbed Diolan's shoulder in a firm grip.

''Run!'' he spoke. ''Run from the creature before he takes your mind as well! Like all the others...!''

''I will not leave.'' Diolan said, quickly gazing one final time at the frozen Solem before looking straight into Louic's eyes again. ''I came here with a mission. A mission which I cannot abandon, or fail.''

''What mission?'' Louic asked, and he looked at the door before he continued: ''Who sent you?''

''The Doctor.'' answered Diolan, and Louic's grip on Diolan's shoulder became painfully tight.

''Who are you?'' Diolan asked. ''Why aren't you infected?''

Louic was afraid to answer his question, wondering if he would condemn him to be the creator of this predicament, this crisis and apocalypse.

''No time for that now!'' Louic said, leading Diolan to the door. ''Tell me about the Doctor! Does he have a plan to save us? Does he?''

''I don't know if I can trust you...'' said Diolan, but Louic wouldn't budge, taking him down the staircase and another, until they found themselves in a hallway.

Louic lead Diolan safely past the Viridimon's guards (who were wearing remarkable traditional robes and armour with some old family crest carved into the amulet which hanged around their necks) and into the lavatory.

''You can trust me!'' Louic whispered.

Eagerly he wished to rid him of the monster he once helped, raised and fed. Eagerly he wished to help get rid of it, so that when one day, when all of the infected are liberated and they investigate the monster's roots, they do not point their finger at Louic and say: ''He is the one who started this! He is responsible!''

Instead they will say: ''He is a hero! He may have raised the monster, but he did not know what it was going to be? What powers it had? He is not responsible! And if he was, has he now not made amends for his mistake? Has he not helped save us?!''

''Please, tell me...'' Louic said to Diolan.

Diolan hesitated.

* * *

Aeryn gazed upon the walkie-talkie in her hands, waiting for the Doctor's voice as she stood alone in the dusty attic of the old house. Its small window, in the shape of a triangle, had a perfect view upon the metallic tower not far away.  
The tower was never really meant for playing music, only to carry calls and messages into outer space.

''Doctor?'' she asked again. ''Are you there?''

''I'm here.'' the Doctor said softly, as if he just came back from a funeral. ''And I bring bad news.''

* * *

A rumbling voice penetrated all corners of the bar. Stronger than ever, the Viridimon made the entire building shake as it grew more excited and angry.  
Louic pushed Diolan back into the white lavatory, away from the large hole in the ground where the incredible sound was coming from.

''I trusted you.'' the Viridimon spoke. ''I thought you to be amazing. Keepers of the peace, but I have been mistaken.''

The roar which followed sent such a shock through the building that Diolan was pushed against the white, neatly tiled wall.

''I idolised you. Worshipped you. Obeyed your precious rules. But no more. Tonight, the old regime will fall. Tomorrow, at dawn, I shall set a new course into the heavens with my knowledge to guide us through the darkness.''

Louic dared to look over the edge of the hole at the Viridimon, who seemed to glare at the dark sky above him, at the stars.

Louic turned his own gaze at the dark sky and saw a tiny little dot coming closer and closer.

''It's a ship.'' Louic muttered. ''He's looking at a ship.''

* * *

On the Peacekeeper Command Carrier, Lyan Nektar slowly approached Captain Gladius, wiping the tears from his eyes.  
Only they were no tears. It was a slime. Slime that hid Lyan's true eyes from his intended victims...

''You are infected!'' Gladius cried as he reached for his weapon and shot Nektar, only to see the bolt of light be reflected upon a white barrier of light and fly into the wall beside him.

''With the knowledge of the Peacekeeper database at my disposal, I will never know hunger.'' Lyan spoke.

''Captain, why are you not answering your comms?!'' a voice suddenly cried across the entire Carrier. ''They evaded quarantaine and infected everyone! We didn't stand a chance!''

* * *

''I shall grow to become the greatest of all creatures.'' the Viridimon spoke. ''With the knowledge of the Peacekeepers in one hand, the knowledge of Gallifrey in the other, and if our paths once will cross...I will add John Crichton's wormhole-knowledge to my mind as well...and with the genetics of my Viridimon ancestry, I will be unstoppable!''  
''Unstoppable!'' Nektar bellowed far away from the bar.

Their minds were one, and they were soon to be adding another mind to that collective of bodies and captured souls; the mind of captain Gladius.

* * *

Diolan found himself gazing directly into the giant orange eye of the Viridimon, without intending to, way down into that large hole which had a view of the sky.  
He almost jumped as he found the Viridimon staring right back at him.

He had stepped into the mouth of the lion unnoticed, but now the lion knew he was there, and his jaws were about to be shut.

The Viridimon's guards appeared everywhere. Every corner. Every exit.

Diolan was about to face the end he had feared for so long.

''Run.'' Louic said, pushing Diolan away. And he did run.

Down a flight of stairs, into another door...

The infected guards and civilians did not even need to run after him: they were everywhere.

Adrenaline rushed through his very essence as Diolan desperately tried to find a way out, trying not to think of his failure. Trying not to think of his teammembers who were all taken and infected by the Viridimon once, not far from where he stood now. He had fled then, but he would not flee this time.

He would not. And finally he could not.

He would face the end like a man, not a boy.

That thought filled him with courage, until he gazed upon two haunting eyes.

''Brother...'' Diolan gasped, seeing Baelen's green eyes approach him slowly. ''I knew you were alive...I knew it...''

Baelen said nothing. His eyes glowed in a dark green gleam. Diolan's face was reflected in his dark armour as more infected people surrounded him, until he had no way of escaping.

A fresh spawn climbed out of Baelen's mouth and crawled around his face and body, until it crawled on to Baelen's arm, which he reached out to grab Diolan's head.

The last thing Diolan remembered feeling was the irratic rhythm of his heart, thumping crazily in his chest as fear took hold of him, until he realised that now he and his brother would be together anyway.

And Louic simply stood there at the edge of the room in silence, bowing his head, gazing down at the floor with a disappointed sigh as he heard the Viridimon cry out in excitement.

The Doctor's plan reached his mind. Every single detail. Everything that can go wrong. Everything that will go wrong.

And soon all their knowledge will be his.

* * *

Aeryn had left the house and entered the streets again, which were all abandoned and empty apart from her.  
She stood in the light, gazing around, listening to the Doctor's voice as she realised the rain had stopped.

The wind, the rain, it had all ended and all there was left was silence.

''The cable has snapped.'' said the Doctor over the walkie-talkie. ''I'm going to have to repair it before it'll work.''

He sighed.

''And to do that...I'm going to have to climb up that tower...up to its very top.''

''Sure, Doctor.'' replied Aeryn, looking at the tower not far from her position, before gazing at the sky once more, where for a brief moment she could make out constellations in the stars.

A beautiful sight.

''Doctor.'' said Diolan suddenly over the walkie-talkie.

He sounded strange, yet the Doctor seemed not to notice.

''Diolan!'' the Doctor yelled excited. ''Is that you?''

''I made it.'' said Diolan, breathing heavily. ''I did as you asked. I tuned the bar's radio-system into the right frequency, now what?''

Aeryn listened to their conversation as she put the walkie-talkie to her ear.

''Wait for my signal.'' said the Doctor. ''Then...and only then must you turn it on.''

''All right, Doctor.'' Diolan said.

* * *

In the bar, Diolan's eyes shined dangerously green, as he put down the walkie-talkie and walked past Louic towards the Viridimon in the basement.  
The Viridimon removed his consciousness from Diolan's mind and returned it to Solem, who sprung back to life like a robot whose batteries had been replenished.

His mind saw the streets, the stars, the caverns, the Carrier, the bar...

Everything had been conquered.

Now his allmighty eye turned to face the tower in the distance, and the Doctor and his companion who awaited him there.

The last who stood in his way to achieve the greatest power, the greatest weapon in the universe: knowledge.

All knowledge, which shall be devoured and consumed until there is no more, but his own. His teaching. His knowledge.

* * *

Aeryn averted her eyes from the skies as clouds passed and dropped an ocean of water upon the asteroid's surface.  
The storm had come, just like the Doctor had said it would.


	16. The Storm

Drenched in water and wind, Aeryn ran from street to street, unable to see through the wall of rain which came crashing down on to the ground. It almost felt heavy, so heavy that if Aeryn would have stood still, the rain would have forced her upon her knees. But she didn't stop.

She kept on running and running until she could run no more.

She was almost there. She could practically hear the Doctor's voice through the incredible sound of the storm above her.

Lightning pierced the sky. One of many more to come.

Thunder followed almost instantly.

Another lightning bolt hit the street light only a few steps away from Aeryn. Sparks flew high and finally low as the force of the impact pushed the light into Aeryn's way. It fell right in front of her feet, almost as a sign for Aeryn not to go any further.

All of the lights in the streets and houses flickered. The insane energy of the lightning proved too much for the system too handle, but the unsteady flickering soon stopped and the lights returned to normal.

'Doctor!' yelled Aeryn into the walkie-talkie, trying to reach the Doctor through the insane racket of the storm as another discharge of lightning erupted in the sky above her, illuminating the clouded heavens in a venomous shade of purple.

She could almost see the tower up ahead, only slightly visible in the dark sky by the little lights which revealed its whereabouts in the darkness, placed there for incoming aircraft to see.

Aeryn remembered seeing the tower when she first flew across the settlement, not knowing she'd be running towards it so desperately the following night. This night which just wouldn't end. The longest frelling night of her life.

And the strangest thing was, she did not feel tired whatsoever.

Every step she now took lead into a puddle of water. Her own cold sweat mixed with the freezing water which descended upon her as her clothes began to stick to her body, and lonely locks of hair which escaped her long ponytail stuck to her forehead or stung her eyes.

'Doctor!' Aeryn cried still, escaping the rain as she ducked under the roof of a small shed.

Damn. He was probably busy, doing something very important as he was about to climb that tower. And what was Aeryn doing? Screaming in his frelling ears, keeping him from doing whatever he was doing.

Would he be able to do it? Would he be able to stop this menace? This monster?

Aeryn hoped so.

The rain which came crashing down on to this little roof of the shed made the sound of an entire orchestra of percussionists. Like a constant beat. A sound of drums.

Aeryn looked up into the sky, trying to wipe the water out of her eyes as she clutched the walkie-talkie in her hand. The Doctor had not answered her calls, but it did not matter anymore, for Aeryn knew why.

The Viridimon's legions had gathered around the tower. An ocean of people and heads and green, all with one objective in mind.

The Doctor.

Aeryn could see him now, in the light of the lightning, climbing up that tower, without looking down.

Did he know of the threat which awaited him below? Which was about to follow him up that tower, surrounding him, suffocating him...and perhaps in the end...infecting him... ?

''Doctor!'' yelled Aeryn, but he still would not reply. What if he was too late? What if he wasn't able to repair that cable? What if lightning would strike him down, ridding everyone of salvation and damnation in one single breath.

Aeryn forgot to breathe herself, gazing up into the darkness, not knowing what to do.

She was a witness of destiny, unable to do anything but watch. She had left Diolan, denying him aid only to arrive too late at the Doctor's side.

Torn between two objectives, and finally unable to do both.

She was trembling as she stood drenched and soaked and freezing and furious in the thunderous rain. Furious at herself.

Always at herself. Always.

She had made a choice. She could still go through with that choice, but would it be the right one?

Was leaving Crichton a bad decision? Should she have remained at his side? Where would he be now? Oh, if only he were here at her side. He would have a plan. He would've known what to do now.

Frell, how things would have been so much better just with him around. Frell, she missed him so much right now.

She screamed in fury and frustration, only to supress her scream immediately, knowing that it would give away her position to the Viridimon's legions not far away.

Aeryn could help the Doctor, charge bravely towards that army without thinking of the consequenses. Without thinking of what would most likely happen afterwards. Her infection. Her demise.

She scratched her stomach after a short surge of pain in that region.

And the only thing she could do was watch how the Doctor would either be victorious...or lose.

Life and death and the fate of the universe were hanging in the balance.

* * *

They stood everywhere, like statues. All those infected in the bar, in the Command Carrier, in the streets or in the caverns. All those too far away to help or serve.

They stood silent and motionless, gazing at nothing, for their minds were somewhere else. One mind. Seeing only one thing, and a million things at once. But the Viridimon wanted only one thing now. The only one who could defeat him. The only one left. The only one with the power to slay him. The only one not to be underestimated. The one who would soon be in his grasp.

His eye twitched in excitement, as he could see the Doctor's coat in the light of the storm above him.

He could almost taste his mind as he gazed up at the stars, where the Command Carrier floated silently. The Peacekeepers were defeaten, and soon the Doctor would follow. He would have revenge for the deaths of his family, who had died escaping the Timewar, started by the Doctor's kind. And so if the Doctor was the last, should he not pay? Should he not be blamed? Should the Viridimon not have the right to act out his revenge on him, as sole representative of his race, like the Viridimon itself was.

Although he still lacked a name...

A name Louic did not give, being too cowardice and indecisive...

It would be prudent for him to chose his own name...just like the Doctor had.

But perhaps...when he could taste the Doctor's mind once more, when he finally again could peek into its world, but this time without limitations or boundaries or restraints, when he could finally possess his knowledge...perhaps then it would be prudent...it would be perfect...for him to take his name.

To become the Doctor like he had become both Solem and Lyan...

Two minds capable of carrying the full consciousness of the Viridimon inside, not just the fragment all the others were carrying: the spawn which carried the essence of him inside and which connects them together, host and monster, united as one.

The Doctor would become his new host. His ultimate host. The last of their kind, united, as fate intended for them.

No, the Doctor could not escape fate.

Here on top of this lonely tower, the Lonely God will finally fall.

* * *

Now the storm was no longer above him. The storm surrounded him. The clouds were around him. Lightning pierced the skies around him as cold, freezing air blew in his face. He had made it to the top of the tower, where a metal floor made him able to stand and a metal fence kept him from falling off.

He could see the massive cable at the centre of the tower, protected by bars of iron.

The cable connected the top of the tower to the small building on the ground way below.

It had almost snapped, and the Doctor presumed a lucky surge of lightning must have destroyed it. It now hung from only a few little wires, which prevented it from falling towards the ground. If it hadn't been for those little golden wires, it would have all been for nothing and the Doctor's entire plan would have crumbled.

The Doctor reached for his sonic screwdriver instinctively, only to see it malfunction as he aimed it at the cable.

No help this time. He was alone.

The thunder was deafening loud, trembling through his very soul, reminding him of the first time the infected started attacking and the Viridimon roared somewhere in the bar.

But he would roar no more.

No, tonight...he will sing.

The Doctor smiled for a second before he painfully leaned with his entire body towards the cable, trying to reach for the cable, wanting to grab it with his right hand.

''Come on!'' he almost growled.

His finger only just touched the black, massive cable, but he could not curl his hand around it.

His hearts raged on inside his chest as he reached for the cable a second time.

The Viridimon's soldiers climbed the tower. Their green eyes came closer and closer as they slowly reached the top.

* * *

''Doctor...'' the Viridimon growled, sending shivers down Louic's spine.

* * *

''Doctor!'' Aeryn cried in the walkie-talkie.

* * *

With enough force the Doctor was able to re-attach the cable, which activated an enormous red bulb of light on top of the tower for all to see.

The Doctor looked over his shoulder and saw the eyes of the Viridimon's soldiers gazing back at him.

* * *

''Do it now, Diolan!'' Aeryn could hear the Doctor yell over the walkie-talkie as she gazed at the red ball of light in the clouds.

For one moment she thought it was all over, that the Doctor had failed, but he hadn't. He was alive still.

''Diolan!'' the Doctor yelled. ''Let's rock this town!''

But what happened next they did not expect.

Instead of Diolan's voice they heard someone else. Solem had picked up the walkie-talkie and now used it to torment the Doctor and Aeryn as he brought them bad news.

''I'm so sorry, Doctor!'' Solem said. ''But Diolan is mine now.''

The Doctor did not reply.

Just like Aeryn, he was speechless.

''Your plan has failed, Doctor.'' Solem said. ''Accept it. And accept what is to come next.''

The green eyes approached the Doctor in a terrible march.

''Join us.'' Solem said.

* * *

The Viridimon's soldiers reached out towards the Doctor, who backed away, falling over backwards over a iron bar.

''No!'' Solem cried as he watched the Doctor fall over, but he was able to grab the fateful, big, black cable which kept him from falling a long way down, right through the centre of the tower, on to the roof of the small building below.

And Aeryn knew there was no more hope.

She backed away as she realised that the Doctor must be captured, and his music would never air.

And just as all seemed lost, just when everything seemed hopeless...Louic...with one push of a button...saved the day.

_#So who's that girl there? _

The music almost exploded loudly through Aeryn's walkie talkie. The bar's soundsystem was something to be admired.

Aeryn stood alone in the wet street, smiling as she heard the music and gazed up at the tower.

_# I wonder what went wrong_  
_So that she had to roam the streets_

_She don't do major credit cards_  
_I doubt she does receipts_  
_It's all not quite legitimate _

She had never heard of something like this ever. This sound. This rhythm. This instrument and voice. Unbelievable and amazing. Just like the Doctor.

He hung from the cable, punching the air in excitement as he watched how all of the people returned to normal, most who clutched the metal ladders, or anything which they could grab to avoid falling down.

With confused glares they looked at the Doctor hanging from the cable with an insane laughter.

Most of the music was drowned by the sound of the storm, but Aeryn didn't care.

It had worked.

It had worked.

_# And I've seen him with girls of the night_  
_And he told Roxanne to put on her red light_  
_They're all infected but he'll be alright_

Louic gazed in joy at how the Viridimon struggled to preserve his thoughts and telepathic connections, but he failed.

Everyone in the bar returned to normal, trying to remember what happened, why they felt so strange and terrible and why they felt like throwing up.

Aeryn felt like celebrating as she heard the Doctor's brilliant laugh echo through the night, and she forgot about the storm and the Viridimon...

Until this strange feeling in Aeryn's guts reminded Aeryn of something which she learned a long time ago:

There are no happy endings.

The cable the Doctor was hanging from started to buckle. The red light at the top of the tower started to flicker and malfunction.

The Doctor tried to reach for a way to climb off but couldn't reach it.

_# They said it changes when the sun goes down_  
_And they said it changes when the sun goes down_  
_And they said it changes when the sun goes down_  
_Around here_  
_Around here_

He could have jumped. He could have, and thereby he could have sacrificed himself for the greater cause, but there was no time.

No time to think or act as the cable broke.

And Aeryn turned around and ran, not staying to watch how the Viridimon's telepathic powers, and all those enslaved returned to their former state.

Not staying to watch the Doctor fall.


	17. The Dawn

''Soon I will get to see my very first sunrise.''

He paced around on the roof, walking in circles around his target before he finally stopped walking.

''And I am glad, very glad indeed, to be able to share that experience with you.''

The air was cold, almost freezing. The sky was grim and grey as the first ray of sunlight crawled over the horizon with much difficulty.

The storm had calmed down again, only to be disturbed once or twice by a sudden surge of lightning, and sometimes a gust of wind would blow wet air into their faces. It was quiet and calm, and there seemed to be no tension in the air whatsoever. No fear. No threat. As if he was surrounded by friends.

Solem stood at the edge of the hole, which the Viridimon had once created throughout the levels of the bar until he was able to see the stars.

Solem turned away from the horizon and faced the one he adressed.

''Doctor.'' said Solem.

The Doctor was chained with his hands backwards around a cold, iron pole. His face was so pale he began to resemble a ghost. He was weak, and he was trembling as he slowly tried to look up at Solem.

The Viridimon's possession of his body had finally taken its toll, as Solem's face had gradually changed, forming monstrous facial expressions and venomous green eyes which no longer shined brightly, but seemed natural.

''The man who knows all the secrets of time and space and beyond.'' said Solem, playing with the Doctor's sonic screwdriver in his hands. ''The man who faced impossible odds to protect the lives of men and women who he didn't even know for more than a few hours.

The man who faced death itself. How do you feel, Doctor, being chained, helpless, disarmed and captured. How do you feel?''

The wind howled. When the clouds would part one could have seen the asteroid's moon, a smaller asteroid which could not escape its brother's gravitational pull, reflecting light of the nearby star below the horizon or the distant nebula, which hung above them in the sky, lightyears away from them.

The nebula could barely be seen in the dark sky as it was coloured in a dark mauve. Mysterious and beautiful.

Like the Doctor's mysterious blue box which stood only a few feet away from him, awaiting her pilot's return.

The Doctor tried to say something, muttering as he coughed and gasped for breath in terrible pain.

The Doctor's coat had been taken from him. It lay on the ground at Diolan's feet, untouched and uncared for. The brown coat would only move in the wind whenever a gust of wind would pass.

The creature had entered the Doctor's mouth and now crawled through his intestines as it attacked his mind.

Solem turned away, but Diolan, two of Lyan's old guards and Louic, the bartender, all kept gazing upon the Doctor's agony and pains with bright green eyes.

It was suspiciously quiet now, and all that could be heard was the howling wind and the Doctor's painful moaning.Solem reached for his pocket and clutched the Doctor's walkie-talkie before he put it to his mouth.

''Can you hear him, Aeryn?'' said Solem, gazing around him. From the roof of the bar he could see right across the rooftops of the settlement's old parts, which lead over the hill towards the fateful tower.

Solem looked as if he expected to see Aeryn look up at him from the streets. When nothing happened, Solem continued.

''Can you hear his cries of pain, Aeryn? His final gasp of breath before he will become one of us? One of mine...''

The Viridimon smiled through Solem. A blissful smile as he imagined the Doctor's final defeat. He turned around to look at the Doctor again, struggling for the control of his mind.

''You are alone now, Aeryn.'' Solem said. ''The Doctor tried to stop me and failed. If a Timelord can't stop me, what good can a Sebacean girl do against my might?''

Aeryn still would not reply.

The Doctor gasped again and cold chills were sent down everyone's spine as a cold haze of rain hit them.

''Accept defeat, Aeryn Sun.'' Solem said. ''And I'll even consider letting you go free. You may leave this place alive, Aeryn Sun. Consider that. I have seen inside your mind already, I have seen that there is nothing of interest in there.''

''What about wormhole-knowledge?'' Aeryn replied.

The Doctor twitched.

''Ah!'' Solem said. ''So you are listening...''

Solem touched the tip of his tongue with his thumb before he went on.

''...well, concerning wormhole-knowledge you are not important are you? Your boyfriend is! Dear John...''

''You will never find him.'' Aeryn said.

''I'm afraid I might.'' Solem said. ''In due time.''

Solem suddenly gasped and his eyes widened. What he saw now was an amazing sight.

Men of plastic. Men of steel.

Monsters and constellations. Black holes, butterflies, and a blue planet.

He swiftly paced towards the Doctor, who lay crippled by pain on his knees, with his hands chained to the pole.

''What did I see, Doctor?'' he asked excited. ''Tell me, please.''

But the Doctor merely looked up and gazed into his eyes. Nothing more.

''Doctor!'' Solem cried. Begging, ordering, yelling. He so eagerly wanted to know. He so eagerly wanted to see.

''Why do I not see? Why do I not see inside your mind?! Let me in, Doctor! Let me in!''

The Doctor looked in Solem's eyes again, only to crumble and fall as pain overpowered him once more, and slowly Solem returned the communicator to his mouth.

''I only give one offer.'' Solem whispered into the device. ''One warning. I give you one hour to accept it, or face the consequences.''

But Aeryn did not reply.

Thunder roared through the heavens as a sign of omen almost, but it left Solem untouched. He kept gazing down at the shivering, trembling Doctor in his bright blue suit.

He seemed to mutter something as he hung lifeless on the pole, with only his chains to prevent him from falling over.

''What?'' Solem asked, noticing the Doctor's muttering.

He slowly but carefully approached his prisoner, who gazed with hollow eyes to the ground, seemingly motionless, however that was but an illusion.

He muttered again. A word. A name.

Solem moved closer, putting his ear next to the Doctor's mouth, asking him to repeat his word.

He could slowly hear the Doctor breathe air into his lungs.

''Houdini.'' whispered the Doctor.

The Doctor threw up yellow slime on to the clean floor, until a disgusting paw appeared out of the Doctor's mouth and ultimately a creature appeared which fell on to the dusty floor where it curled up and died.

Solem looked with disgust upon the slimy dead creature. The Viridimon's spawn which the Doctor had slain. The Doctor looked up at Solem and a bright aura of life seemed to surround him again as colour returned to his face.

''Harry Houdini was a man of magic, they said, but what he did was not magic.'' said the Doctor, after clearing his throat. ''It was brilliance.''

He painfully stood up from his curled position and proudly faced the Viridimon.

His voice still sounded sore and he still looked like he had just escaped a mortuary, but in his eyes a ancient and mighty, defiant fire burned brightly still, showing all who could see that he had not been defeated yet.

''You killed me, Doctor.'' Solem said, referring to the creature at their feet, still twitching as the last drops of its green blood which still flowed slowly through its tiny veins slowly came to a halt.

''Suprised?'' said the Doctor. Solem shook his head, forgetting about Houdini (whoever that was) and scratched his head.

''Why do you defy me still?'' he asked. ''How can you still have hope after seeing your precious plan crumble and fall. After plummeting towards your own death if I hadn't caught you! How? Why? I do not understand, Doctor! I do not understand!''

''You don't want to understand.'' said the Doctor wise.

Wind blew across the Doctor's face, blowing his brown hair upright.

''You only want one thing, and that is to feed.'' His low voice rumbled through his sore throat. His eyes were sparkling full of life and yet the Doctor had never seemed older than now.

''Now honestly, tell me...'' the Doctor went on. ''Don't you ever get tired of being hungry all the time?''

The Doctor stood as if he wasn't the Viridimon's prisoner, chained to a pole, standing under a dark, grey and rumbling sky where thunder roared in the distance. He stood in front of the Viridimon without fear or doubt. Confident and strong. His dark eyes still gazed in Solem's green eyes, never blinking.

''My hunger is my own, Doctor.'' Solem said, not backing down. ''It is a species trait.''

''Oh, I doubt it.'' spoke the Doctor. ''This goes way beyond that.''

Solem's lip curled.

''Where your species used their abilities to find and share knowledge, you take and devour it. You feed on knowledge, but not just because you must...no...

It's because you want to.

It's become an addiction, hasn't it? The constant hunger for knowledge which is driving you insane...''

''You don't know...!'' Solem tried to say.

The Doctor smiled in his own exaggerated manner: ''Oh, don't I?''

''I know of the Viridimon, their ancient and lonely civilization. I see their work right through the centuries, right through the pages of human history. The knowledge they carried and shared and passed down from one human generation to another, creating questions and answers about the ultimate enigma that is...that is life.''

The Doctor did not move, and nor did the metal, white, chains which imprisoned him.

''I see them, and I see you.'' the Doctor went on. ''Look at what you've done. Look at what you've become!''

''You cannot judge me, Doctor...'' Solem said.

''Again you're wrong.'' the Doctor spoke. ''For I can do whatever I want. Say whatever I want to say, and I will say it now.

You are a disgrace to your race. A stain on their memory. You have befouled their heritage and reputation for centuries to come!''

''I am the last of my kind, Doctor.'' Solem spoke. ''I make my own rules. I live by my own rules. Not yours. Not my parent's rules. Not the Peacekeeper's rules.''

The Viridimon's anger grew, but yet he seemed frozen in fear, trembling in front of the Doctor he idolised. Solem raised his lip, revealing his teeth like an animal would do when facing danger. It would growl at his enemy. Bark, but not bite.

''I choose my own life, Doctor.''

''And you have.'' the Doctor said. ''And that is why I am so sorry. So very sorry...''

The Doctor pulled on his chains and hearing the sound of metal falling upon metal he felt how he was restricted.

''Doesn't matter.'' Solem said, before opening his mouth really wide so that a newly created spawn could climb out. ''Not anymore.''

The spider climbed across his face until it sat still on his shoulder.

''The life I have chosen will now become your life, Doctor.'' said Solem . ''You can fight all you want, but know that I will keep on trying. I will sent spawn after spawn into your body, Doctor. I will attack your mind until you will surrender your secrets to me. Not a moment sooner.''

The Viridimon's threat was simple and deadly frightening, yet the Doctor did not seem touched in any way.

He simply looked at the sky with a clever smile, before he looked straight at Solem again.

''Aren't you even curious on how I beat you?'' the Doctor said. ''Aren't you even going to ask?''

''What?'' Solem asked.

A cold wind accompanied his confusing and fearful, cautious gaze.

''See,'' the Doctor continued. ''I couldn't keep out your spawn with just my psychic powers...they are limited, you see...I couldn't have won by myself. I must have had help, don't you agree?''

''Help?'' Solem asked. ''From whom? Aeryn Sun?''

''Well, sort of.'' the Doctor said. ''To explain to you how I managed to defeat your magnificent psychic powers would mean elaborating on all the attributes of the Melangotorux-worm.

A tiny little critter which can only be found on the planet, well, obviously Melangotorux, but that would take too long to explain.''

Solem's gaze turned completely empty as he lost track of the Doctor's ranting.

''The Melangotorux-worm, also known as Melango, or just Melanie, whatever your preference, has the distinctive attribute that it always lives in pairs. Twins you see. They hatch together out of the egg and live together until they die.''

Lightning pierced the clouds and the spider on Solem's shoulder was the only one to twitch and tremble in shock.

''They are bonded to one another,'' said the Doctor. ''from the moment of their birth. One cannot die if the other lives, so to speak. One cannot be infected when the other is not. Now here's the important part.''

Thunder bellowed in the distance, but one could feel it move closer and closer.

''I gave Aeryn an apple, unaware that the apple contained the aformentioned worm. I ate its twin, and now Aeryn and me are bonded, like the worms are. Like you, we are protected by a telepathic field...''

Solem did not like being compared to a worm.

''At least for a couple of hours,'' the Doctor said. until the worm passes through her digestive system that is. And mine of course. Are you still listening or should I just skip to the end?''

''No, Doctor!'' Solem yelled as he approached him, but then the Doctor suddenly shook off his chains as if he was shedding skin.

''I forgot to mention, too, that Harry Houdini was a genius who could escape out of everything. And he taught me a trick or two, which came in quite handy at this point.''

Solem did not dare to approach the Doctor, who had returned to his powerful self again. He was unarmed, but still managed to scare Solem without effort.

''You can't infect me.'' said the Doctor daunting. ''And you can't kill me either.''

The Doctor held out his hand and awaited for Solem to hand him back his screwdriver, and surprisingly enough Solem was too afraid to refuse his request.

''So what are you going to do, Doctor?'' Solem asked as he handed over the malfunctioning tool. ''You still won't be able to stop me.''

''I can't.'' said the Doctor, before aiming his gaze at the sky above. ''But she can.''

Solem now looked in the same direction, and as a surge of lightning in the distance lit up the sky, the silhouette of a vessel could be seen inbetween the clouds. The silhouette of a Peacekeeper Prowler.

Solem was petrified, and so was the Viridimon, as the Prowler approached.

''One of the most powerful creatures in the universe.'' the Doctor spoke. ''Beaten by the most basic elements of the universe: light and sound.''

Thunder roared again.

The Prowler now lingered right above the hole in the roof of the bar and tilted down, so that its lights would have a perfect view of the Viridimon, who was unable to escape.

With one push of a button, Aeryn freed all men and women of the settlement and beyond of the Viridimon's control, just like the Doctor had done before. The Viridimon bathed in a blinding white light, trying to look away, but even when it would close his eyes the light would keep haunting him.

It cried and cried, but there was no-one to comfort the little Viridimon who had lost his parents.

Slowly the Doctor made his way towards the hole in the roof, to look down at the Viridimon.

''Don't look at me!'' the Viridimon roared, almost unable to speak and only roar. ''Don't look at me, Doctor, please!''

People were now coughing up paralyzed spawn all over the settlement, and even on the Command Carrier they were regaining control over their bodies.

The Doctor waited long enough for everyone to free themselves of the monster, until he finally spoke to the Viridimon directly.

''You...you have beaten me, Doctor...'' the Viridimon roared.

''No.'' the Doctor spoke. ''Aeryn did. You made that one fatal mistake, of underestimating her.''

He looked down at the monster who's orange eye had turned green again. It's pupil had shrunk into a dot as it gazed directly into the light, only barely making out the Doctor's silhouette throughout those blinding rays.

''I cannot be beaten! I cannot be harmed! I cannot be killed! I am the last of my kind!'' the Viridimon yelled.

''Being the last of one's kind does not make you unbreakable, untouchable, all-powerful or immortal.'' the Doctor said. ''Make one mistake and you'll lose everything. Everything.''

There he stood.

The mighty, humble Doctor with his blue suit and with his hands in his pockets as he gazed down into the hole.

And Aeryn knew, right then and there, she realised that this was all meant to be.

The Doctor was meant to be the one to stop the monster. He alone could have stopped it. He was there when it began, and he is there now when it ends.

''It is over.'' spoke the Doctor.

''But how?'' the Viridimon asked. ''How did you defeat me? I demand to know!''

The Doctor crouched down at the edge of the hole, touching the gritty floor of the roof with the tips of his fingers.

''What you didn't understand, is that it's not about knowledge.'' the Doctor spoke.

He spoke to the Viridimon like a father would speak to his son.

''It is about wisdom.''

The Viridimon sighed.

''What now, Doctor?'' he asked. ''What will you do with me?''

The Doctor stood up.

The people on the roof around him were all unconscious. They had just thrown up the Viridimon's spawn out of their bodies, but they finally succumbed to sleep because of stress and weariness and peace.

''It's up to you.'' said the Doctor. ''I give you one choice. Only one.''

''Tell me...'' the Viridimon said.

''I will take you to another planet. A new home-world for you to thrive. For you to live. It could be your own paradise...your own...''

''NO DOCTOR!'' the Viridimon yelled, interrupting the Doctor's words with a unstoppable rage.

That was not what he wanted to hear.

''You are sending me to my own paradise! My own prison, Doctor! Or didn't you think I would know? Didn't you think I would realise?!''

''There is no other way.'' the Doctor spoke.

''There is another way!'' the Viridimon yelled.

Aeryn sat quietly in the cockpit of her Prowler, gazing down at below wondering what would happen, but she couldn't hear.

Everywhere, in every street she could see people waking up. Free from their dreams and nightmares. She saw it, and knew she should be feeling wonderful about it, however, it was quite the opposite. She felt terrible.

''Let me come with you, Doctor!'' the Viridimon cried. ''Let me travel with you! Let me learn! I want to learn, Doctor!''

The Doctor said nothing.

''Why not, Doctor?! Why not?!''

In his rage the Viridimon trashed the bar, crushing walls and ceilings and making the entire building shake, until he finally found his target.

In a swift motion the Viridimon's long tentacles reached out into the sky and grabbed Aeryn's Prowler, shaking it about like a doll.

''LET ME COME WITH YOU!!''

''NO! STOP IT!'' the Doctor yelled. ''LET HER GO!''

But the Viridimon would not loosen his grip of the vessel, and slowly he began crushing it, and the person sitting inside it.

The craft's light shined into a different direction now, lighting up the dark clouds in a bright white glow.

The Doctor's big eyes widened in panic as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Swiftly he reached into his pockets and grabbed his malfunctioning sonic screwdriver which he aimed at the Viridimon.

''DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS!'' the Doctor yelled, but the Viridimon would not stop.

''I don't want to die, Doctor!'' the creature yelled. ''Imprisoned, alone on some desolate planet! Forgotten by time! The last of my race! I want to see the stars! See the universe! See what you have seen! Why won't you share it with me??''

''This is your final warning.'' the Doctor said, but the Viridimon would not release Aeryn.

Diolan and Louic slowly began waking up from their comas, without realising they were leaving the realities they had started to believe in. The reality in which darkness and terror reigned seemed like a bad dream as they awoke in paradise, but now they returned and could not believe what was going on.

The Doctor stood on the roof holding his sonic screwdriver up high. Light reflected off the wooden surface of the mysterious blue box standing lonely in the corner.

The Doctor seemed to wait for something, but nothing happened still.

For a moment the Viridimon kept on shaking and crushing Aeryn's Prowler as the Doctor stood there with his big eyes, standing there with both hands cluthing his precious tool which he held up high above his head, aimed at the clouds.

It looked rather silly, until a immense and powerful surge of lightning exploded in the air around them, nearly hitting Aeryn.

The Doctor closed his eyes and prepared for the second surge, which he knew would follow any moment.

Thunder roared as the second surge hit the Doctor and all of a sudden his sonic screwdriver lit up and for a moment night seemed like day as a blue glow surrounded them in a bright white light.

The Doctor lowered his hands and aimed the renewed sonic screwdriver, powered by the power of lightning, at the Viridimon below, sending a scourge and wrath of the heavens upon the creature.

Lightning erupted out of the sonic screwdriver's blue light and bounced off a bright white wall of telepathic energy. It hit everything around them in the lower levels of the bar.

In his hands the Doctor now seemed to hold a giant sword of lightning which he used to slay the Viridimon.

The Viridimon's strength faded until he finally was forced to release Aeryn, and finally the Viridimon gave up. Its shield faded and lightning hit the monster, until the life would fade out of the creature'e eye and its limbs fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

* * *

Aeryn's craft was released and launched into the air, plummeting down if Aeryn hadn't stopped it in time, frantically pushing buttons and checking scopes and altitudes as she tried not to look at the horizon which climbed up in the window and the houses beneath her which were growing larger and larger. She managed to stop her sudden descent and fly her battered craft to safety, landing it in the street next to the bar.

Quickly she opened the hatch and stormed off into the bar, only checking on how the recovering people in the bar were feeling once as she made her way up the staircase and on to the roof.

He wasn't there.

She checked everywhere, until she finally realised where he was. Where he was supposed to be.

Aeryn turned around and ran down one staircase and another, until she stood in the doorway of the dark and dusty basement, gazing at the Doctor.

She approached him from behind, as he stood crouched down beside the lifeless body of the Viridimon, examining its slimy scales which were slowly turning pale. Its gigantic extendable tentacles which it had used to attack Aeryn's Prowler in the sky now lay motionless, more than three stories up, on the roof.

Aeryn looked upon her dirty hands and realised she must look terrible. She tried not to let that bother her, but somehow it did. Although she had not looked at her own looks in a mirror, she must look tired and wet and scarred, yet the Doctor seemed not to have changed one bit.

He did not seem wounded or battered like Aeryn must now seem.

Only his hair was wet, yet it remained in perfect position.

For a moment Aeryn imagined the Doctor living in an entire different world than hers. That was very easy.

She pictured the Doctor, not being affected by anything in this world. Her world.

Nothing would harm him, affect him or touch him. He was but a visitor. A traveller. A wanderer. A stranger.

He was an event which would soon pass, she realised.

He would be gone just as quickly as he had appeared.

''Is it dead?'' asked Aeryn.

She realised it had been a while since they had directly spoken or seen each other. The last time they spoke was when they parted ways in the sewers, planning their scheme to slay the Viridimon.

It would have worked, if fate had not intervened.

''I did not mean to kill him,'' the Doctor spoke. ''but he died nonetheless.''

''But how did you penetrate his telepathic shielding, without light or sound?'' asked Aeryn.

The Doctor looked around and gazed at Aeryn with an amused and proud smile.

''Your plan turned out to be much better than mine.'' he said, and Aeryn couldn't help but smile faintly, although she realised the Doctor was avoiding her question.

''How did you come up with that?''

Aeryn joined the Doctor's side in front of the dead Viridimon and put her hands in the pockets of her leather pants.

''I ran when I saw you fall, Doctor.'' Aeryn began saying.

The Doctor's smile faded away.

''I ran so fast, so far, I couldn't remember why I was running. I could only think of getting away. Finding someway to get out of this mess. But then I couldn't stop thinking about what you'd said.''

If they would have looked up they would have seen the sun's light break through the dark night. Its rays grew stronger and stronger as it slowly pierced the darkness in the basement. It did not reach far, but it did break the dusty darkness so that Aeryn's eyes no longer needed to adjust to darkness to be able to see.

''You said it was a plant-like creature...''

''And you used light to beat it.'' the Doctor said. ''Light instead of sound. Brilliant. Just brilliant.''

His big smile should have made Aeryn feel better, but it didn't.

Aeryn remembered how Zhaan once reacted to the light, the tall, strong, Delvian priestess who sacrificed her own life to save hers.

Delvians were plants, and if the Viridimon would have reacted exactly the same as Zhaan would have, it would be enough to render his psychic abilities useless. And it turned out she was right.

''It is over.'' Aeryn said, gazing down upon the corpse of the Viridimon. ''It is finally over.''

''Oh, I'm not so sure about that.'' the Doctor said. ''Something...''

He sighed in frustration as he removed his glasses from his nose and ruffled with his other hand through his hair.

''Something just doesn't feel right, but I just can't put my finger on it.''

''What, Doctor?'' Aeryn asked and the Doctor immediately answered her question.

''How could I have penetrated his telepathic field? Lightning could not have penetrated it, so it couldn't have killed him. So how did he die?''

The Doctor was clearly frustrated not knowing the answer to that question.

''Maybe it was the light.'' said Aeryn, trying to ease his frustration. ''It could have been the light. Of the lightning I mean. It could have blinded the Viridimon as I had. It could have disabled his psychic shield...''

The Doctor sighed, and Aeryn could see the frustration and thoughts in his mind fade away, like someone had just removed a enormous weight off his shoulders.

''Perhaps you're right...'' he said softly. ''I hope you're right...''

The Viridimon lay there silently dead, unable to give any answers.

''Aeryn!'' Diolan cried.

The kid nearly jumped at her, wanting to hug her, and she uncomfortably accepted his hug.

''I'm so sorry.'' Diolan said to her. ''I nearly messed up the whole plan!''

''You did.'' Aeryn said cold, and Diolan's enthusiasm faded. ''But it doesn't matter. Not anymore. The monster is dead.''

Diolan looked over her shoulder, and saw the Doctor sitting crouched next to the Viridimon's corpse.

He seemed to reach with his right hand into his right shoe, reaching down with his fingers into the gap between his sock and his shoe. After some fiddling and touching the Doctor pulled his fingers out of his shoe and revealed a key hanging from a thin white rope.

The key to his space-ship, which he had hidden inside his shoe, before his capture.

Diolan couldn't believe his eyes.

The Doctor stood up and followed Aeryn and Diolan out of the basement, before they returned to the roof, where everyone had a perfect view of the settlement and its people, freed of the Viridimon's grasp.

They looked down and saw people hugging in the street. Kissing and shouting in the light of dawn.

The sun crawled higher and higher and its beautiful light coloured the clouds in a dark orange and a bright yellow.

If it weren't for the cold and strong wind which was blowing into their faces, this view almost seemed like a moving painting. A movie.

But it was all real, which made it more beautiful.

Aeryn shook Baelen's hand. The kid grasped his chest in pain, where Solem's shot had once hit him, but he had survived.

Diolan took care of him, helping him remain upright as they celebrated freedom. The rest of Solem's team returned, all well, except for poor Felias who was nowhere to be found. If it was not for Louic's explanation of what had happened to her, they might as well had looked for her until the sun would set again.

Solem was the only one who was still in his coma, somehow refusing to wake up, no matter how hard his team yelled into his ears.

The dead spawn lay beside his shoulder, but was kicked away in fright and anger as they lifted their leader and friend into the air.

The clouds parted and the wind grew warmer. The foundations of a beautiful day were all here.

Aeryn gazed upon the Doctor, standing next to his strange blue box as he gazed down into the street.

Aeryn followed his gaze and saw Hagros hugging his wife in the streets. He looked up at the Doctor and merely nodded friendly, knowing that there was no need to say anything.

The Doctor nodded back.

The Doctor seemed to stroke his mysterious blue box with a kind, loving touch, as if the box was his old lover or friend and not just an inanimate object. But Aeryn knew nothing was normal in the Doctor's world, and so perhaps this mysterious blue box was also more than it seemed.

''You are leaving, aren't you?'' asked Aeryn.

The Doctor graciously leaned against the blue box with a subtle smile as he folded his arms.

''I am.'' he said.

He looked up at the sky with a faked interest, but Aeryn knew he was waiting for either the right time or the right courage to say what he really wanted to say. Something which embarrassed him somehow. Something which was hard for him to say.

And Aeryn knew what it was.

''D'you want to come with me?'' the Doctor asked.

He gazed curiously in Aeryn's eyes, smiling his subtle and kind smile, but Aeryn knew that there was much more going on behind those big dark eyes.

But before Aeryn could answer him, the Doctor's eyes suddenly shifted, gazing to what was going on behind Aeryn.

''She doesn't deserve it, Doctor.'' a voice suddenly said.

Solem had woken up, and he had shaken off his friends and approached the Doctor with a dangerous look in his eyes.

''She does not realise your full potential. Your power. Your wisdom. She will never understand.''

''Solem?'' Aeryn asked, but only afterwards did she realise how stupid of a remark that was. A venomous green gleam lingered in his eyes, and the shadow of the monster remained on his face.

''That is how your shield broke.'' the Doctor said, stepping angrily towards Solem. ''You didn't die. You gave up! You transferred your mind into Solem's mind! You fled!''

Solem's team unawarely formed a circle around Solem, fearing to step in and stop their leader and friend as he got closer to the Doctor and Aeryn.

''I left my hideously ugly body behind, Doctor.'' Solem spoke, and Aeryn recognised the Viridimon's voice. The low rumbling...the dark whisper...

''I left my inheritance behind, Doctor...so that I could get a clean slate. A second chance! To join you as a friend, and no longer as your enemy.''

He opened up his hands as a sign of his honesty and friendship.

''Again, you don't understand...'' the Doctor said.

The darkness returned into his eyes. The tragic rage that filled his heart.

''No...Doctor...you must understand...!'' the Viridimon spoke. ''I want to see. I want to travel. I want to learn, Doctor. Is that not what you tried to say? I understand it now, Doctor. I realise my errors and know that I must try another way. I must not take a shortcut, I must take the long path. I must ask, not take. Learn for myself. Do it for myself. I know this now, Doctor. Thanks to you. And I want to learn more of you Doctor. Teach me...''

The Doctor hesitated, and Aeryn wondered what he would be thinking right now.

Would he accept his sudden change in appearance and attitude? But what would he do?

''No.'' the Doctor spoke. ''There are no second chances.''

''But Doctor..''

''You should've thought about this before you attacked Aeryn! Before you turned down my offer! '' The Doctor yelled, not caring that everyone was looking at him. That everyone was now fearing him, instead of the Viridmon.

''I would've given you whatever you wanted. Peacefully and friendly. No more would we be enemies...yet you said no and betrayed my kindness with rage.''

''I want to learn, Doctor...'' the Viridimon said again, but the Doctor would not listen to his pleas as a gust of cold wind blew across the roof.

''No.'' repeated the Doctor.

The orange sun was now completely risen. The large bright ball blinded everyone who would look upon it, as it was almost twice the size of Earth's sun.

''Your rampage must come to an end.'' the Doctor spoke.

''Rampage?'' the Viridimon asked.

''You are in the body of a friend!'' the Doctor said, but before the Doctor could finish the Viridimon spoke.

''I will not leave.''

A pause followed as the Viridimon and the Doctor gazed into each other's eyes.

''I will not leave this body.'' the Viridimon repeated. ''I cannot, for I have no body of my own!''

''That is not my concern.'' the Doctor spoke cold. ''You left your own body to die. You simply cannot take another! As if you can live another life! There are no second chances, I told you that. You chose your own life, remember?''

''I will not leave.'' the Viridimon said, backing away.

Diolan and Baelen backed away as the Viridimon came near them, breaking the circle around Solem as he backed away to the edge of the roof.

''I don't want to die...''

Solem was sweating and its eyes widened in fear as the Doctor followed him, still gazing into his eyes without blinking.

''Kill me, and you'll kill Solem too!'' the Viridimon yelled at the Doctor. ''You won't kill him, Doctor! I know it! I've seen in your mind, remember? I know you are not a killer!''

''You don't know me.'' the Doctor simply said.

''But you still can't separate me from Solem's body!'' the Viridimon shouted, glancing over his shoulder at the edge of the roof which grew nearer with every step.

''Well,'' the Doctor said, reaching into the pocket of his coat. ''...as a matter of fact...''

''No!'' the Viridimon cried as the Doctor revealed a small white ball which he held in his hand and began modifying it with his sonic screwdriver for what was to come next.

''Please, Doctor! Don't do this! You will murder me! He's murdering me! He'll kill me! Stop him, please!''

He looked around at the crowd in front of him, but no-one said anything. No-one moved or did anything to stop the Doctor. They merely gazed upon the monster which possessed the body of their friend, and remembered the spawn which crawled inside their bodies, through their mouths, and they remembered their dream-like prison which seemed too impossible to be real.

No-one raised a hand to help the Viridimon. No-one.

''No!'' the Viridimon kept on crying. ''Kill me and I'll kill him! I'll jump, I swear!''

He moved to the edge of the roof and threatened to jump, but the Doctor did not even twitch.

''You won't do anything.'' the Doctor said to him. ''Not anymore.''

He stretched the hand with the white ball out to Solem and waited as Solem's head started to shine. A green substance seemed to pour out of him, like poison being sucked out of a wound. The substance was green and seemed not liquid nor gas. It was the Viridimon's mind, which was being sucked into the white ball.

The white ball turned green as Solem's body and mind were restored.

Diolan and Baelen quickly rushed to his aid before he would fall off the edge, and the Doctor put on his glasses as he gazed at the green ball in his hands.

In his eyes a raging darkness roamed like a storm in the heart of a sun. A supernova turning into a black hole.

''_Now_ it is over.'' the Doctor spoke.

They all nervously left, glancing fearfully at the stranger in the brown coat. Only Aeryn approached him, as he stood beside his blue box. Aeryn recognised the ball in his hands, which he now slowly put in his pocket. It was the ball he took from the table the first time he entered the bar. The first time they met.

Or was it the second time? Aeryn could not recall.

The Doctor stood nervously beside his ship, waiting for Aeryn to come closer.

''Doctor...'' Aeryn said, but then the Doctor interrupted her.

''The offer still stands you know.'' he said.

For a moment he glanced at the ground before he continued.

''You could come with me. Travel with me.''

For a moment Aeryn felt like saying yes. For a moment she felt it would be perfect to say yes. To travel with him in his strange space-ship.

''I'm sorry, Doctor...'' Aeryn said, slowly taking a step back. ''I can't...''

The Doctor's face turned pale.

''I just...can't.''

She turned around and left the Doctor standing alone next to his blue ship, watching her walk away.


	18. The Decision

Who was he?

That was the question on everyone's lips after the chaos of celebration faded and ended. They started to remember what happened.

The people in the cavern, who fled with Hagros, had encountered him, they say. This stranger. This saviour.

Rumours started to circulate amongst the townfolk of how the Doctor had single-handedly beaten the creature, with a little help of course.

They say a Peacekeeper woman was there with him, and a Peacekeeper boy. They say the Doctor was a Sebacean himself, but Hagros, who had since then not participated to this gossip, told them otherwise, telling them he could impossibly be a Sebacean.

Then what was he?

The bar was now a desolate place, where no-one feared to tread.

But on its roof, a strange blue box stood. All by itself. It stood where at first nothing stood at all. And the townsfolk knew what this had to mean.

Diolan and Baelen had tried to reconcile with Jaleeth, but she only questioned them for information about the Doctor in the end, and they left.

Jaleeth did manage to get some out of them in the end, and more stories were created and were spreading through the settlement like fire.

Now everyone knew of the mysterious Doctor with the sword of lightning, which Diolan saw in his feverish dream he claimed, not knowing he was wide awake.

But there were still no answers, which Aeryn would not give them.

Transports filled with many people who had fled when the creature first attacked, returned as soon as they heard the news of its defeat.

Lyan Nektar quickly took back his throne as leader of the settlement, and his elite guards which had first guarded the Viridimon's bar during their possession, now returned to guard Monarch Nektar and his entourage in the large house at the edge of the settlement.

But alongside Nektar's arrival, there came the Peacekeepers, who started to ask questions about the incident, about the monster, about the Doctor. They investigated the happening and only came to one conclusion.

They thought they had figured out the Doctor's identity. They thought he was John Crichton, and the Doctor was just his alias.

The townsfolk couldn't believe what the Peacekeepers were claiming, unable to grasp the fact that the infamous John Crichton, who had blown up a Gammak Base, a Shadow Depository and a Peacekeeper Command Carrier, who was said to be a thug and a murderer, a thief and a menace, had just stood among them; had just saved their lives.

Of course, they remembered the reports now.

They remembered how it told of an escaped Leviathan prison transport, Crichton, a Luxan, a Delvian, a Nebari, and a Peacekeeper deserter, whose name had been Aeryn Sun.

Peacekeepers stormed through the streets of the settlement searching for the fugitive, even when Solem tried to tell Captain Gladius that it was she who had saved all their lives.

But the dear captain would not budge, feeling obligated to fulfill his duty, and feeling somehow robbed of his vengeance. Therefore he chased after Aeryn, ignoring Solem's pleas for mercy as he once ignored the possessed Lyan.

Solem and his men quickly moved Aeryn off the asteroid and to a safe location in another starsystem, to avoid detection by the Peacekeepers, using their own power within Peacekeeper ranks to disguise her.

They were of course, in name and special assignments only, part of the Peacekeepers and in their service.

But Aeryn refused to leave.

She felt glad to be finally leaving this place, but she stayed, knowing there was one final thing she was supposed to do. Something she should have done in the first place.

* * *

Aeryn froze as she stood in front of the deserted bar and looked up. Just over the edge of the roof she could see the top of a tall wooden box. The Doctor's supposed space-ship, but Aeryn could not even picture the frelling thing move for one inch on its own. She quickly entered the bar to avoid being seen by the townsfolk who walked by. The haunting scent of death lingered still after the death of the Viridimon's body. It had not been removed.

All feared the Viridimon still.

The door was heavier than Aeryn expected it to be. It opened with an accompanying shriek as the door collided with the floor.

Bad memories of the first time she entered this bar returned to Aeryn, and in her mind she was back in that uncomfortable situation, with Mairic pointing his gun at Diolan: the test they had prepared for them which was disturbed by the Doctor.

Aeryn ignored those flashbacks and headed upstairs, trying to think of what to say to the Doctor when she would finally reach the roof again.

Her goodbye to the Doctor was cold and brief, and she wished to rectify that.

Strange noises and a gust of wind reached her ears, increasing in noise as she got closer to the roof.

She increased her pace and pushed open the door with one swift and strong motion.

Aeryn gasped as she reached the roof, filling her lungs with cold air.

The blue box was gone.

* * *

''Thank you for doing this.'' Aeryn whispered to Solem as she and her ship were hidden inside an old freighter, about to set off to a location only known to Solem's group.

''You should not even mention it.'' Solem said as he boarded the craft as well, together with his friends. ''We are glad to help you. You saved our lives. We owe you.''

But Aeryn did not feel the same way.

She looked at the settlement one last time as the doors closed, but never felt sorry for leaving. Not once.

And although the night had been so terrorized, the stars itself would give her nightmares, however Aeryn Sun looked at the stars of space with a renewed energy, as if she was looking upon an old friend she would gladly hug again.

Mairic's body had been found in the burnt wreckage of the bar's storage-room and was transported with them, so that they would be able to provide him with a proper funeral. A final goodbye.

Felias was also lost on the asteroid, yet since her body had been eaten by the Viridimon, they could only bid her farewell in spirit and prayer.

Mairic's funeral was sad, silent and unusally brief. His death was treated just as any other soldier who had heroically fallen in combat. Who had died honourably.

His body was shot into space, encased in the metallic casing of a disabled warhead. There he would rest forever, hopefully knowing his mistake did not cost him the lives of his friends. And Solem had forgiven him for his blind loyalty. He had forgiven his friendship. His passion.

For Solem asked Mairic forgiveness, closing his eyes as he touched the metallic casing with his fingers before it would be shot into space. He blamed himself, for he was the one who killed Mairic. It was his hand that pulled that trigger.

''It wasn't your fault.'' said Aeryn, to which Solem only nodded.

* * *

After landing, after many hours of flight, on to a barely populated planet called Pyranos, Solem brought Aeryn to an old mansion way up in the cold mountains. There she got to know Solem's group very well, as they told stories of their past missions and of how they joined Solem's Squad.

Diolan and Baelen sat together and almost never left each other's side. They sat around a big fire in the centre of the round chamber, decorated with beautiful red tapestries. They tried to impress the infamous Aeryn Sun with stories of their own, and as beverages and food was passed, the conversations grew more wild and erratic and fun, but Aeryn's part in these conversations was small, although they kept urging her to tell about the Gammak Base, the Shadow Depository and the Command Carrier she was rumored to have destroyed. She did not give any details, but as she confirmed their suspicions they roared loudly and laughed.

After she was done talking and the conversations moved away from her, she would remain silent and only listen. But whenever she would look into Solem's eyes, he would kindly look back and say nothing, understanding her need for silence, and understanding why she kept pushing them away and hid herself.

''Tell her about our encounter with those spiders!'' Diolan yelled excited. ''On that planet...tell her, Kapca!''

Kapca was a woman who sat at Aeryn's left side, with bright white hair and pitch black eyes, white fingernails and a hint of a soft grey colour in her neck: she was the daughter of a Sebacean and a Nebari. Unheard of, and rare, but still possible. She was living proof.

Aeryn faked interest in her story as she leaned forward, clutching the warm blanket around her waist in the cold room.

After Kapca was done telling her story she laughed just like the rest were laughing, and Solem laughed too, only his laugh turned into a bad, no, horrible cough. Everyone gazed at Solem, not daring to say anything. Not even daring to think the worst.

Solem's health had gone downhill ever since the Viridimon left his body, and all knew that must be the cause of it.

The Viridimon must have screwed up his mind and body so much that it was left damaged when he was ripped out of it.

And it would only take a while for him to recover.

Yes, it would.

At least, that is what everyone kept saying, kept hoping as his coughs grew worse every day.

Mallo offered Solem his blanket, but he declined, looking upon Aeryn as he said: ''I'm tired. You can all do whatever you like, stay up till dawn...I don't care. I'm just going to go to my chamber and leave you crazy people alone!''

The group laughed only slightly, almost forced to laugh at their leader's joke as he stood up and left the room smiling. As he reached the door, he only looked back once to look right into Aeryn's eyes.

Now Aeryn knew she was supposed to follow him.

She left the group without saying anything and followed Solem into the next room, where Aeryn saw that a sleeping bunk had been prepared for Solem, in the barely decorated, candlelit room. Solem stood by the window, gazing outside.

The night was aging and beautiful. Snow descended upon the grounds and the white, beautiful mountain-tops gazed right back at Aeryn as she stood beside Solem. In the reflection of the window she gazed right into Solem's eyes.

''Are you all right?'' asked Solem.

His voice was warm and kind, yet hurt.

''I was going to ask you the same thing.'' replied Aeryn.

Solem sighed.

''I'll be fine.'' he said.

His words were overshadowed by the horrible cough which followed, and Aeryn heard how a dozen of Peacekeepers in the room she had just left grow silent.

''I'll recover. Don't worry.'' Solem added after he wiped his mouth. ''It's just that I won't be able to lead my men in this unstable condition.'' Aeryn nodded, before saying: ''I understand.''

''So therefore...'' Solem went on. ''I want to appoint someone to take my place, for the time being.'' Aeryn began to realise where this was going. ''This someone will automatically become my second-in-command, filling the gap which lingered by Mairic's death, and will be the leader of this Squad until I recover.''

And before Aeryn could say something, Solem turned around and said: ''And I want it to be you.''

Aeryn breathed deeply before she dared to say anything. ''Isn't it early to promote me?'' she finally said. ''Shouldn't you promote someone else, someone...''

''You have already proven yourself.'' Solem spoke. ''Even more than that. My men know that they can trust you.''

''Can they?'' Aeryn asked herself, but she could not come up with the question. Not yet.

''Will you accept?'' Solem asked, and a pause followed.

''Of course.'' said Aeryn, unable to refuse him.

* * *

Time went on as the night progressed into day, and Aeryn found herself sleeping through it, and waking up the day afterwards. Instead of dawn it was now dusk, and if she hadn't seen the sun set, disappearing behind the white mountains, she would have never believed any of them as they told her.

A part of her did not want to wake up, for she would wake up in an unfamiliar world. Where trust had to be earned and friends had to be made. All had returned to the start, and Aeryn was reminded of the first day on Moya, living her new life as a fugitive, among fugitives.

But this time, she did not want to make friends. A soldier does not need friends and should not get too emotionally attached.

She could not survive another broken heart.

Aeryn did not sleep, yet did not leave her room.

She had a long and disturbing dream, hearing a distant voice cry for help. A woman's voice, sounding distorted and in terrible pain. Aeryn could not reach her. She could not find her. And when she had finally woken up, she still hadn't found the source of the distress-call.

She shook off this strange, depressing dream as she turned around in her bed, feeling terrible, but unable to sleep.

So she faked sleep whenever someone would enter. She could hear Solem's cane tapping on the floor as he visited her, but she did not open her eyes.

She wanted to be alone.

* * *

She ignored the cold. She ignored the freezing sensation which crawled up her spine every time a cold gust of wind would blow in her face.

Aeryn had to fight her way through the many layers of thick snow and ice as she climbed the mountains, passing through valleys of snow which laid untouched in front of her, like a blanket of snow which covered the mountains.

One false move could lead Aeryn to an untimely end. One wrong step could lead her into a gulch underneath the snow, or create an avalanche which would bury her in snow, making her part of the mountain.

But she did not care.

Somehow she enjoyed this sense of danger. Somehow she felt strong and confident in these icy surroundings.

A headache tormented her, ever since she accepted her sudden promotion. A slight headache, an annoying pain and thought inside her head which kept warning her for mistakes, but most of all, the consequences of those mistakes.

The decision to accept that promotion had seemed so easy. Perhaps she expected it to be harder. Perhaps she expected there to be some sort of punishment.

A punishment for the fact that something good had happened. Aeryn expected for fate to come round and kick her down again, but it didn't come.

Aeryn pushed her own senses to the limit. She enjoyed feeling the adrenaline flow through her veins as she put her own body's strengths to the test. The cold gripped her, the steap, rocky hill which kept on going up defied her stamina. She clenched her fists as she forced herself to keep going, ignoring the pain, until she could no longer feel it. The cold numbed her senses and Aeryn gradually turned into an unstoppable machine, with no emotions. No pain.

Was this what she wanted? Is this not what she had always wanted?

Is this not why she contacted Solem in the first place? To join his team?

Aeryn looked down into the valley below, where she could see the base of operations, the old mansion, a black stain in the white snow. Its roof was covered in snow and ice.

Aeryn measured the distance and how far she had walked. She had started to walk very early in the morning, but now it was almost midday. She felt it was time to return to the mansion.

She looked up at the bright blue sky and saw the silhouette of a lonely bird in the pale, bright, morning sun.

The bird cheerfully spread its wings as it circled the mountain-tops, following the lonely figure which was running through the snow below.

''You probably think I'm crazy, don't you?'' said Aeryn to the bird, knowing fully well it could not understand or hear her.

''Should I?'' a voice suddenly said behind her.

It was Kapca. She was wearing a big, furry, black coat with many layers, and a matching pair of black pants and boots. With her bright, white hair the young hybrid seemed to belong in these beautiful white mountains. She approached Aeryn with a feisty, challenging and cheeky smile, and the more she got closer, the more Aeryn could see how young she still was.

Aeryn couldn't help but think back to when she herself was that young. So naive.

When she was a soldier. Someone who follows orders and does what she's told to do. Merely a soldier. One of many.

And look at her now.

She had changed so much in so little time, for how much is one year in a Sebacean lifespan? How much is three? Years pass as quickly as day follows night, as swiftly as hours turn into memories, which fade away slowly as life goes on.

And end.

''Here.'' Kapca said. ''Solem wanted me to give you this.''

She handed a strange piece of fruit to Aeryn. cradling it in her bare hands, showing her beautiful, polished white nails.

''You missed breakfast.'' she explained. ''He figured you'd be hungry.''

Aeryn glanced only once at the fruit, before she threw it away with a mighty throw. Far away into the white, snowy distance.

''I'm not hungry.'' Aeryn said, gazing defiantly into Kapca's eyes.

Kapca merely smiled as she reached into her pocket.

''He knew you'd say that.'' she said, revealing a rolled up piece of paper from her coat-pocket, bound by a string.

Aeryn wondered what that could be. Orders, perhaps?

Aeryn tore the string off and read the paper.

''What does it say?'' Kapca asked.

Aeryn waited to answer her question until she read the whole letter.

''It's our new assignment.'' she said.

* * *

Two days later they exited the freighter and stepped out into a clouded day.

The winds were warm on this unknown planet.

Solem's informants had lead his team to a grey and grim planet of ruin and rust, with only one thing on their minds.

Someone would die today.

The team gathered around Aeryn, who now held a position of power in the team. A position of leadership and responsibility, which no-one argued, doubted or questioned.

With her reputation, their common history and Solem's support, the group of Peacekeepers she now commanded would now listen to her every word. Act on her every decision and whim. Disloyalty did not exist.

As Mallo and Diolan carried the suitcases and boxes out of the freighter, Aeryn gazed into the sun, wearing dark sunglasses and her dark green vest under a black leather jacket.

This was all new to her. So different.

Aeryn faced her new assignment, one which she, although she would never admit it, dreaded and feared.

She had always known how to handle a situation, but this was just different. She was now officially their leader, and Aeryn knew that whatever she said would be carried out without question or doubt.

And if she was wrong...

Aeryn tried not to think of that.

Everything had gone as planned so far. There was little that could go wrong now.

The streets were empty. The natives shy. They feared the Peacekeepers, as they should.

The buildings around them seemed to fall apart. They seemed ancient and rusty and faded and grim.

This entire planet seemed to be mourning a loved one's demise. There was no hope here.

But if this really was a planet of death, than there was no better place for them to be.

For they were assassins.

Their business was death.

* * *

Their intended target was only a few hours away from death. The large grey plaza was empty, but it would soon fill with people.

The place had been scouted before, but they did it again anyway.

The target was the prime-minister of a consortium of planets, with this grim planet being its capital.

He was corrupt, and only used the money generated from high taxes to strengthen his own luxurious position, not caring for the population's wishes.

But that would soon change.

Diolan and Baelen acted as scouts as the crowd gathered slowly into the plaza.

Banners and flags were forcefully shoved into people's hands so that it would generate a false sense of happiness and loyalty to this minister. Of satisfaction and adoration.

But the population, all dressed in long black robes and hoods, cared little for the minister and his entourage, knowing that little would change their depressing situation.

''He's here.'' Baelen said.

The team wore earpieces and microphones with which they communicated.

Aeryn stood in the plaza's centre, overseeing everything. Exits. Security. The target's future position and her own team's positions.

Kapca and Mallo stood ready, gazing into the lens of a sniper rifle at the street below, waiting for the minister's arrival.

The transport soared over the buildings and landed suprisingly gracefully in the street. The doors opened and a parade of body-guards came out of the transport and spread into the street.

Aeryn stood motionless among the people in the centre of the plaza, listening to her team's comments as the minister stepped out of the transport, waving at the people as if he was loved, not hated.

Aeryn wore a black hood, so that she wouldn't stand out in the crowd, yet she felt very strange.

She felt vulnerable. She felt as if she was being watched.

Aeryn gazed at the rooftops of the buildings in front of her, and she could've sworn she saw the silhouette of a tall man standing in the bright sunlight, before disappearing quickly out of view...

''Focus, everyone.'' said Aeryn. ''The moment has arrived.''

The minister walked towards the podium which had been prepared for him.

Kapca and Mallo followed him with their eyes and with their fingers barely touching the trigger.

Everything would soon be over. Everything had gone perfectly, yet Aeryn felt terrible, as if something was about to go wrong.

And still she couldn't help but feel like someone was watching her.

''He's improvising!'' Hexo cried and Diolan confirmed his suspicions.

The minister walked towards the crowd, instead of towards the podium.

''I've lost him!'' Mallo cried.

Aeryn ignored the urge to grap her earpiece and start yelling instructions. Doing so would give away her position and intentions immediately.

Guards were everywhere, looking into the crowd for people like Aeryn.

''My shot is blocked! I can't see him!'' Kapca yelled.

''Frell.'' Aeryn said.

Everything was going wrong.

''Do we abort?'' Diolan asked.

Aeryn ignored her gut instinct which was telling her to abort the mission and instead decided to finish what she started. This was her first mission. If she would frell this up, they would never trust her again.

''No, we do not abort.'' she said.

She slowly left the crowd as the minister started greeting everyone.

Aeryn did not run, or sneak, or yell, or cry. She walked as if nothing was going on. As if everything was fine.

She tried not to draw too much attention to herself, to avoid detection by the bodyguards and it worked.

When she was finally able to disappear into a dark alley-way she pulled off her hood and ran like hell.

It was time for Plan B.

Dark windows of the tall, grey buildings around her seemed like eyes which followed her.

She ran through the alley-ways searching for a green door. She pushed it open when she found it and ran up the old staircase with a swift caution; the old wood would crack and make her fall if she would press her full weight upon the stairs.

Swiftly she ran, ignoring the webbed paintings of old inhabitants long deceased, which she had seen before when she stepped into this building a few hours before, and entered a empty dark room with one window.

And in front of that window stood the third gun. Aeryn's Plan B.

This gun had full view of the plaza, yet was deemed unnecessary by Solem. He said two guns were sufficient, but Aeryn knew that Murphy's law knew no boundaries. She ignored that awful feeling whenever she was reminded of Crichton and gazed into the weapon.

The words of the minister echoed loudly across the plaza, speaking of peace and prosperity and a new era of grandure, but Aeryn did not listen to his words, as she zoomed closer and closer in on his lips.

''Stay calm and remain in your positions.'' Aeryn spoke through her microphone. ''I will make the kill. When he falls, proceed with normal protocol and the plan we prepared.''

Still an uneasy feeling crept up Aeryn's spine, even when all seemed to have been saved, and she did not know why.

She gasped.

Aeryn couldn't have seen it from her previous position, for it stood just around the corner, perfectly placed on the sidewalk as if it had always stood there.

She now saw it in the corner of her eyes, yet she could not believe it was there.

Aeryn moved her gaze away from the corrupt minister and looked down into the streets, where she looked upon a familiar sight.

There it was.

The square, tall, wooden blue box stood radiant across the street, almost seeming to be smiling at Aeryn, knowing their eyes met.

''Doctor...'' Aeryn gasped.

''Hello, Aeryn.'' a kind voice behind her said.

Aeryn turned around to look at the Doctor, standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall with his right shoulder, with a casual and gentle smile on his face.

He was wearing the long brown coat, with the big black buttons, still, but underneath it the blue, pined striped suit was gone, replaced by a black, pined striped suit with matching pants, just like before, and for a moment Aeryn gazed at those strange white shoes, with a red lining.

''Surprised to see me?'' the Doctor said as he crossed his left leg behind his right.

''No.'' Aeryn heard herself say. ''No, I am not surprised.''

She couldn't help but concentrate on her own breathing, which seemed so loud and annoying.

In and out. In and out. She felt her heartrate increase and her hand shake because of it. The Doctor made her nervous, but most of all, he made her angry.

''However, I can't believe you chose this exact time and place for a visit," Aeryn said. "...but then again, when did the men in my life ever have a sense of good timing?''

The Doctor was struck by Aeryn's vicious comment and swallowed, and only then did Aeryn realised how sad that must have sounded.

''I know why you're here.'' spoke the Doctor. ''You're here to kill a man.''

Her team's voices yelled into her ears, asking why it took so long, but they seemed so distant. So far away.

The minister's speech went on, in the plaza below, but those words meant nothing.

''But why are you here, Doctor?'' Aeryn asked. ''Are you here to stop me?''

''No.'' the Doctor said. ''I am here to save you.''

Aeryn couldn't help but laugh.

''Save me?'' she said. ''Why do people always show up trying to save me?''

''Why do you need saving?'' a voice in her subconscious mind said to her.

''I...am...a big girl, Doctor.'' Aeryn said. ''I can make my own decisions.''

''Aeryn, is there something wrong? Do you need assistance?'' Mallo cried through Aeryn's earpiece.

''But I know you, Aeryn.'' the Doctor spoke. ''You fear you might be making the wrong decision. You fear making mistakes which will cost you everything. This...Aeryn. Killing this man, is the wrong decision.''

A cold fury was slowly building up inside Aeryn, and she hated herself for hating this good man, but she did.

''No, Doctor.'' Aeryn spoke vile. ''You don't know me.''

''Aeryn...'' the Doctor tried to say, moving away from the doorway, towards Aeryn.

''WHO ARE YOU to tell me what's right and what's wrong?!'' Aeryn cried, letting out all of the anger and doubts and rage which had been troubling her for so long. The uncertainties. The little things which annoyed her.

The things she never got to tell the Doctor on that fateful asteroid at dawn.

''Who are you, Doctor?'' Aeryn asked. ''Tell me, for I don't know. I've never known.''

She had trouble speaking, but the rage inside of her forced her to go on, and somehow it felt good to hurt the Doctor. It felt so good.

''You are but a wandering stranger in my eyes, Doctor.'' Aeryn went on. ''A reckless, dangerous man. A destroyer of worlds and a breaker of hearts. You wear a mask, Doctor. A mask which hides you from the world, the universe, from everything and everyone.''

The minister went on outside, her team was desperately crying for news and orders, but Aeryn did not care.

To see that hopeless, hurt look in the Doctor's eyes was priceless. Finally she got the retribution she wished for, ever since the Doctor left them in those sewers. Ever since the Doctor fell from the tower, leaving Aeryn with nothing but darkness and without hope or faith.

She was glad the Doctor had returned.

''That happy face of yours, Doctor.'' said Aeryn. ''That big smile. That hopeful gleam in your eye. It is nothing but an illusion, I understand that now, Doctor. It all makes sense.

You saw right through Solem's test and you saw right through the Viridimon's illusion. Why?

For you know all of illusions, Doctor. You _are_ an illusion, Doctor.''

The Doctor stood in front of her, stripped of his defences, it seemed. A broken man.

''I see right through you, Doctor.'' Aeryn spoke proudly.

''You see right through me?'' the Doctor asked. ''Is that what you said?''

''Yes.'' Aeryn spoke defiantly.

''You see right through me?'' the Doctor repeated.

He paused for only a slight moment, before attacking Aeryn with an ancient, but kind strength. He could have ripped her apart with but six words, no wait, five, but he pitied this little girl. He had mercy for the broken hearted and for weak souls.

''You speak of illusions and masks with such delicate and easy words, Aeryn.'' the Doctor spoke. ''You see right through me, yet you only see what you want to see. Darkness, death and hopelessness and a grim, grey sky is all you see, but I see life. Does life scare you, Aeryn? Does love scare you?''

''No, Doctor.'' Aeryn spoke. ''You scare me. You terrify me.''

''And you know why?'' the Doctor spoke. ''Because of all masks in this universe and the next, yours is the greatest one of all. The mask you wear is that of thoughness and strength, but underneath lies the heart of a scared little girl, retreating to a grim life of rules and stability and death, just so that no-one would be able to break her heart for a second time. But you know what, Aeryn? Its not about broken hearts. Its about the time preceding it. It's about...''

''STOP IT!'' Aeryn cried, feeling her heart rage on inside her throat. ''Stop it. You speak of broken hearts so easily, Doctor, yet you do not know my pain. You don't, and you never will.

I've seen what's out there, Doctor. I've known love, and it's beautiful. Like a different life. A perfect life.

A life not meant for me...''

''You don't know that.'' the Doctor spoke. ''Don't give up on love, Aeryn. Don't continue on this horrid path you have chosen. This life of assassins and death. I beg of you, Aeryn, don't!''

Aeryn sighed.

''You just step through this door and order me to change my life?'' she said.

''I don't order you, I just...''

''You come and go so easily, Doctor.'' Aeryn said. ''You move on so easily without ever looking back. You don't mourn. You don't grieve. You live on. You move on. But its not like that for us mortals, Doctor. It's not.''

''I come and go, you say?'' the Doctor said. ''I merely travel. Restore the timeline to its original place whenever it needs a nudge, but I cannot become part of events. I have a time-machine. I travel through time and space knowing all that I can do, and all that I can't do.''

Aeryn couldn't help but ask.

''But what of the mistakes you have made? The lives that were lost.''

Her mind drifted off to a place far in the past. A monastery under attack. Women and children slaughtered by a horde of vicious men, longing for revenge.

A timeline she could not restore.

The image of sand slipping out of Crichton's hand popped into her head. A sad and haunting sight she would never forget.

Crichton...

''...Rose, Doctor, can you not save her?'' she asked.

''No.'' the Doctor answered ghastly. ''I can't. Tampering with your own timeline is the worst you could do. I shouldn't do it. I shouldn't even think of it.''

''But you do, don't you?'' said Aeryn.

''All the time.'' the Doctor said. ''Not a day goes by that I do not think of it. Its the most dangerous question a time-traveller could face. The most torturing question in the universe, contrived of only two words:

What if?''

Aeryn bowed her head, taking her eyes off of the Doctor as she shook the images of painful memories away. Of Crichton, stepping into his module with a trembling, dying hand...

''I cannot save Rose.'' the Doctor said. ''But you...you can save Crichton.''

Aeryn looked up at the Doctor with tears in her eyes.

''He died, yet he lived.'' he went on. ''See it as a second chance. Go to him. Leave this dreadful place and choose that other life.

A life of love, not death. Be a mother, not a soldier.''

Aeryn surprised the Doctor with a tormented laugh.

''Fate...it seems...has a cruel sense of humour, for I cannot go forward. And cannot go back. And now you...you're making me unable to stay, forcing me to choose.''

''Aeryn! He's leaving!'' Diolan cried into her earpiece, and Aeryn was reminded of the reason why she came to this planet in the first place.

She grabbed the gun and zoomed in on the corrupt minister. This dictator who deserved to die. Still, he might have a family. Someone who loves him. Someone who will miss him when he's gone.

''Don't kill him, Aeryn.'' the Doctor said. ''Don't do it. Leave. There's a time and a place for everything, Aeryn. Even for you.''

''But the road I must travel to get there is full of hardship, sadness and suffering. Don't lie to me. I see it in your eyes.''

''Aeryn...'' the Doctor tried to say.

''No, Doctor.'' Aeryn said. ''I do not trust in fate anymore. It has taken too many loved ones away from me. It cursed me. It has lead me through too many pains already.''

''So is this what you want?'' the Doctor asked. ''This life of danger and death and loneliness?''

''Is it any different than your life, Doctor?'' Aeryn said.

The Doctor did not know what to say to that, for she was right.

Aeryn zoomed in on the minister, who was heading to his transport with a smile on his face, and with one clean shot, one motion of a finger touching a trigger, life left the minister's eyes and he fell to the ground with a silent thud.

''I have made my choice, Doctor.'' Aeryn said as the crowd gasped and body-guards panicked. ''I have chosen my life.''

The Doctor sighed disappointed and defeaten.

''So be it.'' he said, before slowly turning around to leave the room.

He looked back only once, before he disappeared entirely, walking down the staircase with a sad, slow pace. "Goodbye, Aeryn." the Doctor whispered.

Aeryn communicated with her team as they planned to scatter and head for the arranged hide-out and rendezvouz, just like they planned.

Aeryn glanced back over her shoulder as she disassembled the parts of the gun she could not leave behind, only seeing the Doctor's hair swiftly disappear down the staircase.

She looked out the window at the mysterious blue box one final time before running away, knowing that this place would soon be crawling with bodyguards and security.

Little did she know that this would not be the last time she would ever see that blue box again.

THE END


End file.
